Columbia  <Bnto*  ratftp 

THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 
1860-1945 


I 


>-'«**' 


QXjokj^l^^  UToA^WttT 


LIFE  SKETCHES 


OF 


Father  Walworth 


WITH  NOTES  AND  LETTERS 


BY 

ELLEN  H.  WALWORTH 

Author  of  "Kateri  Tekakwitha,  the  Lily  of  the  Mohawks,"  and   "An  Old 
World  as  Seen  Through  Young  Eyes,"  etc. 


»       i 


ALBANY.    N     Y. 

J.    B.    JACK    COMKaN;.    PkIN;TE;RS 

1    '  }       i       i    J       .  J 

1907 


>    1     )    I  '  I 


/7* 


Copyright,  1907 > 
By  ELLEN  H.  WALWORTH, 


1   DEDICATE 

THIS 

VOLUME 

To  Americans 

WHO   DELIGHT   IN   FREEDOM   OF   SPEECH 

from  a  Conscientious  man 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEES.  PAGES. 

I.  BOYHOOD.— His  Father's  Influence.        1 

II.  COLLEGE  DAYS.— In  Prospect  and 
in  Retrospect  —  Old  Time  Culture  at 
Williamstown  and  Albany 15 

III.  COLLEGE  DAYS  AT  "OLD  UNION." 

—  Dr.  Nott  and  His  Stove  —  A  Re- 
vivalist —  Letter  to  a  Classmate ....      33 

IV.  LAW  OR  THEOLOGY?  — An  Up- 
State  New  Yorker  Starts  for  the 
Metropolis 44 

V.  "LEAD  KINDLY  LIGHT."  —  Few- 
man,  Carey,  Wadhams  and  McMaster 

—  Good-Bye  to  Mother  —  Piatt  and 
Whitcher  —  Letters  to  His  Father.  .  .      M 

VI.  VOCATION ;  STUDIES  ABROAD.— 

At  Saint  Trond  with  Isaac  Hecker  — 
Letters  from  Belgium,  Holland  and 
England 87 

VII.  A    REDEMPTORIST ;    A    MISSION 
PREACHER      IN      AMERICA.— 

Some  of  the  Best  Work  of  His  Life.  .    114 

VIII.  ONE  OF  THE  PAULIST  FATHERS. 

—  A  Remarkable  Cluster  of  Converts .    141 


Vi  (    O-X TEXTS. 

CHAPTERS.  PAGES. 

IX.  COPPESPOXDEXCE   WITH    COX- 
VERTS.— A   Letter  on  the  Trinity 

—  Keeker,  Newman,  Hewit 170 

X.  PASTOR  OF  HIS  FLOCK.—  Thirty- 
four  Years  at  St.  Mary's,  Albany  — 
Notes  of  Sermons  —  "  The  Rights  of 
Labor  "  —  Poem  on  the  Mass  — 
Tribute  of  a  Curate 196 

XL  TRAVELS  AND  INDIAN  TRAILS. 

—  Vacation  Studies 239 

XII.  WIELDING    THE    TEMPERAXCE 

SLEDGE-HAMMER.—  Clippings 
from  Local  and  Other  Newspapers.  .  .   261 

XIII.  "A  CITIZEN  OF  NO  MEAN  CITY." 

—  The  Albany  Bi-Centennial  —  The 
American  Sunday  —  Letters  of  Of- 
ficials     287 

XIV.  NEAKLY  BLIND.— Hymns  and  Medi- 

tations—  Evenings   with   His  Nieces 

—  Authorship  —  Scott,  Cooper  and 
the  Genealogy  —  Sunset  of  a  Busy 
Life  —  His  Cloister  of  the  Senses.  .  .    311 

XV.  "IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE 
•SHADOW  OF  DEATH."  —  The 
Chanting  of  a  Hundred  Priests  —  A 
Memorial  Meeting  of  Fellow-Citizens 

—  Three  Monuments  to  Father  Wal- 
worth. Conclusion  :  Funeral  and 
Obituary  Notices  —  Honored  by 
Albany. 325 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth 


WITH  NOTES  AND  LETTERS. 


7/ 


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Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 


i. 

BOYHOOD. 

His  Father's  Influence. 

Clarence  A.  Walworth  was  born  May  30,  1820, 
at  Plattsburg,  N.  Y.,  where  the  Saranac  River  issu- 
ing from  the  Adirondack^  sinks  to  rest  in  the  bosom 
of  Lake  Champlain.  He  lived  through  eighty  mem- 
orable years  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  and  was  fully 
alive  to  its  swift  currents  of  thought.  He  died  Sep- 
tember 19,  1900,  in  the  Hudson  Valley  at  old 
Albany,  beloved  of  his  fellow  citizens.  He  lies 
buried  in  the  village  cemetery  of  Saratoga  Springs, 
under  whose  lofty  pines  he  grew  to  the  full  measure 
of  a  man. 

No  son  of  New  York  State  ever  loved  better  its 
beautiful  valleys  and  their  inhabitants.  Few  can 
have  given  more  thought  than  he  to  their  history  and 
their  destiny,  interlinked  as  they  are  with  the  heart's 
life  of  the  Nation.  If  he  looked  "  before  and  after," 
it  was  never  to  "  pine  for  what  is  not  "  in  idleness  or 
discontent.  He  only  wanted  to  understand  better 
what  was  yet  to  be  done  in  the  service  of  God  and 
man.  Then,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  he  did  it  forth- 
with, and  got  others  to  follow  his  lead.  He  was 
indeed  a  strong  lover  of  truth  and  of  the  common 


2         Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

weal,  as  will  be  proved  later  on.  And  why  not? 
To  him  and  his,  "  the  name  of  the  Great  Jehovah 
and  the  Continental  Congress"  was  written  all  over 
the  Green  Mountains  to  the  east  of  him,  in  myriad 
shadows  moving  along  i  heir  slopes.  Bullets  ploughed 
up  on  the  Saratoga  Battleground  found  their  way 
into  his  juvenile  pockets.  When  the  Fourth  of  July 
guns  wore  fired  to  rouse  the  villages  between  Still- 
water and  the  Adirondaeks,  way  back  in  John  Quincy 
Adams'  administration,  the  boys  he  knew  and  with 
whom  he  played  marbles  were  accustomed  to  sing 
out  with  every  blast,  "Shoot  Burgoyne!5  The 
spirit  of  patriotism  was  in  the  air,  and  so,  too,  was 
piety,  and  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  On  Wednesday 
nights  he  carried  a  foot-warmer  to  the  Saratoga  meet- 
ing House  in  Church  Street,  for  his  mother's  com- 
fort whilst  at  the  place  of  worship.  He  was  happy 
in  being  with  her,  his  own  little  feet  nestled  close  to 
hers.  It  was  not  always  easy  to  sit  still  in  that 
high-backed,  cushioned  pew,  but  the  sound  of  her 
voice  was  always  sweet  to  him  in  the  singing:  nor 
did  he  ever  forget  how  the  deacons  came  gravel v  in 
of  a  Sunday  morning,  and  laid  down  their  best  hats 
on  the  communion  table.  It  was  time  then  for  him 
to  sit  very  straight  and  be  on  his  best  behavior. 

If  he  and  another  naughty  bov  broke  most  of  the 
plain  little  church  windows  one  day,  it  was  an  ebul- 
lition of  human  nature  with  which  a  wise  father 
knew  how  to  deal.  lie  promptly  paid  for  the  glass 
and  took  strenuous  measures  to  make  his  young  son 
realize  its  value.  I  have  heard  Father  Walworth 
say  in  later  life  that  if  fathers  were  obliged  to  pay 
for  the  damage  their  boys  do,  it  would  tend  to  the 


Boyhood.  3 

observance  of  law  and  order  and  be  better  for  all 
concerned . 

Another  incident  does  not  come  amiss  in  this 
connection.  Peter  Bullions,  author  of  a  grammar 
once  used  in  many  schools  throughout  the  United 
States,  was  the  presiding  genius  in  a  Latin  room 
at  the  Boys'  Academy  in  Albany,  where  Clarence 
took  up  that  study.  "  Old  Cyclops,"  the  boys  called 
him,  he  being  blind  in  one  eye.  The  sight  in  the 
other  was  keen  enough,  however,  to  enable  him  to 
catch  Clarence  at  some  of  his  capers.  A  sudden 
blow  on  the  head  with  a  ruler  raised  an  ugly  looking 
welt.  School  over,  the  boy  hastened  to  his  mother, 
whose  sympathies  were  much  excited.  Soothing 
remedies  were  quickly  applied.  As  soon  as  Judge 
Walworth  came  home  she  showed  him  the  hurt  and 
told  who  inflicted  it.  Clarence  looked  for  further 
sympathy  as  his  father  carefully  examined  the  head 
and  listened  to  every  detail  from  the  boy  and  his 
mother.  What  then  was  his  surprise  when  his 
father  drew  himself  up  very  straight,  and  looking 
at  him,  sternly  said :  "  See  here,  young  man !  If 
you  ever  come  from  school  in  that  condition  again 
I  will  give  you  a  punishment  that  you  will  not  soon 
forget."  Thus  did  justice  tread  close  to  mercy  in 
his  bringing  up. 

Some  further  understanding:  of  influences  that 
were  brought  to  bear  upon  his  early  life  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  budget  of  facts  and  let- 
ters pertaining  to  his  parentage  and  childhood. 

Clarence  was  the  fourth  child  and  oldest  son  of 
Reuben  Hyde  Walworth,  the  last  chancellor  of  the 
State    of   New   York,    born    October    26,    1788,    at 


4        Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Bozrah,  Conn. ;  and  who  died,  November  28,  1867, 
at  Saratoga  Springs,  X.  Y. 

He  was  the  grandson  of  Benjamin  Walworth, 
born  November  11,  1746,  at  Groton,  Conn.,  who 
came  over  from  Xew  England  to  the  Hudson  valley 
in  time  to  serve  with  Xew  York  volunteers  at  White 
Plains  and  Minisink.  In  1708,  Benjamin,  with  his 
wife,  Apphia  Hyde,*  and  their  young  family  — 
Reuben  beins;  then  four  vears  old  —  established  his 
home  at  Hoosick,  X.  Y.,  in  a  house  which  was  occu- 
pied in  1896  by  the  Geer  family.  There  Benjamin 
died,  February  26,  1812. 

•Clarence  was  the  great-grandson  of  John  Wal- 
worth of  Groton,  Conn.,  born  on  Fisher's  Island, 
1696;  died,  1748.  He  was  a  prosperous  farmer 
and  shipwright,  who  served  the  colonies  as  a  cornet 
and  captain  of  dragoons,  belonging  to  the  8th  Regi- 
ment, in  the  davs  of  Governor  Law. 

His  father  and  the  great-great-grandfather  of 
Clarence  was  William  Walworth,  the  first  settler  on 
Fisher's  Island,  who  emigrated  from  England  to 
Xew  London  county,  Conn.,  in  1689.  After  dwell- 
ing for  a  time  alone  on  the  island  —  a  veritable 
Robinson  Crusoe  —  he  became  one  of  the  sturdy 
group  of  Groton  pioneer  farmers,  whose  descendants 
are  scattered  far  and  wide  over  the  United  States. 
They  form  no  small  part  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of 
our  nation's  life,  both  on  land  and  sea,  as  may  easily 
'be  seen  by  turning  the  leaves  of  their  multitudinous 
genealogies.  i 

It   was   as   easy   and   natural   in   their   declining 


*  See    Hvrto  Genealogv.   and    Chancellor  Walworth's  Address,  in 
1859,    at   the   "  Norwich    Jubilee." 


Boyhood.  5 

years  for  Reuben  to  prepare  the  ponderous  Hyde 
Genealogy  and  for  Clarence  to  gather  up  the  Wal- 
worth Family  History  as  it  was  for  St.  Matthew 
to  begin  his  gospel  with  a  pedigree.  The  people 
of  Groton,  like  the  children  of  Abraham,  were  well 
trained  to  write  up  their  birth  records.  To  be  sure 
the  promised  Messiah  had  already  come  to  fulfill 
the  prophecies  before  their  ships  ever  touched 
America,  but  here  was  a  vast  new  promised  land 
opening  before  them.  As  their  sons  and  daughters 
moved  westward  to  take  possession,  where  there  was 
as  yet  no  vestige  of  church,  court  or  college  records 
to  which  to  refer,  well-bound  bibles  were  thrust  into 
their  hands  by  their  elders  with  these  emphatic 
words :  "Read  this,  and  be  sure  to  write  up  the  Fam- 
ily Record/'  Very  faithful  to  this  injunction  for 
the  most  part  were  the  Walworths. 

The  mother  of  Clarence  was  Maria  Ketchum 
Averill,  born  at  Plattsburg,  X.  Y.,  December  31, 
1795,  of  Puritan  ancestrv.  Conscientious  as  Haw- 
thorne's  Hilda,  with  a  tender  love  for  little  children 
and  the  poor,  yet  quick  to  drive  a  drunken  Indian 
from  her  kitchen  with  lusty  blows  of  the  tongs,  hers 
was  a  fine  type  of  moral  and  physical  beauty,  pecu- 
liarly American.  At  the  early  age  of  fifteen  she 
was  wooed  and  won  bv  Reuben.  He  was  then  a 
promising  young  lawyer  of  northern  New  York, 
just  beginning  with  masterful  strides  to  hew  a  path 
for  himself  to  legal  prominence.  He  had  gone 
from  his  father's  farm  at  Hoosick,  where  a  love  of 
learning  had  been  instilled  into  him  by  his  scholarly 
half-brother,  Mr.  Cardell,  to  study  law  in  the  office 
of  John  Russell,  Esq.,  at  Troy;  and,  later,  selected 


6         Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Plattsburg  as  a  place  to  begin  practice.  It  would 
be  yet  many  years  before  he  could  grow  up  to  the 
great  task  before  him,  that  of  moulding  the  un- 
wieldly  chancery  business  of  the  Empire  State  into 
shape  for  coming  generations.  In  the  War  of  1812 
he  showed  manly  courage  at  the  battles  of  Platts- 
burg, September  6  and  11,  1814,  in  which  he  was 
acting  as  adjutant-general  under  Major-General 
Mooers.  He  was  also  a  colonel  of  militia.  An  ink- 
lino;  of  how  he  won  his  very  vouns  bride  is  not  with- 
out  interest.  It  is  told  of  him  that  a  young  relative 
of  hers  raised  a  laugh  at  the  lover's  expense  by  tell- 
ing how  he  overheard  these  words,  in  an  earnest 
tone :  "  Do  say  yes !  Do  say  yes !  "  He  had  come 
unexpectedly  upon  Reuben,  who,  on  one  knee  be- 
fore the  rosebud  of  a  girl,  was  gaining  a  slow  assent 
to  his  suit.  He  was,  from  the  first,  a  successful 
pleader.  Having  secured  the  maiden  by  his  persist- 
ence, Reuben  waited  patiently,  in  deference  to  the 
desires  of  her  relatives,  for  her  to  complete  a  course 
of  study,  directing  meantime,  however,  by  the  force 
of  his  own  superior  intellect  and  will-power,  the  im- 
provement of  her  mind  along  certain  channels  of 
his  own  choosing.  They  were  married  January  16, 
1812,  and  went  to  live  in  a  country  house  he  had 
planned  for  her  near  Plattsburg.  Soon  after  their 
first  child  was  born  he  came  riding  home  one  day 
from  a  long  round  of  duties  to  find  that  his  house 
had  been  burned  to  the  very  ground.  In  great  dis- 
tress he  sought  far  and  near  for  tidings  of  his  young 
wife.  Finally  he  found  her  a  mile  away  at  a  neigh- 
bor's home  with  her  babe.  She  had  hastily  left  her 
bed  and  run  that  far  for  shelter.     No  wonder  he  im- 


Boyhood.  7 

provised  a  water  bucket  brigade  soon  thereafter, 
an<l  in  the  years  to  come  served  at  Saratoga  Springs 
as  an  amateur  fire  chief  of  the  village.  Its  pres- 
ent model  fire  department  was  preceded  by  a  "  Wal- 
worth Hose  Company."  His  son  Clarence,  too,  was 
a  volunteer  fireman,  when  he  was  practising  law  at, 
Canandaigua.  In  pioneer  days,  it  was  the  man  of 
many  resources  who  amounted  to  something.  Every 
boy  was  expected  to  handle  a  variety  of  tools  and 
weapons.  The  era  of  specialists  was  yet  to  dawn 
in  the  vallev  towns  of  New  York. 

After  the  fire  Reuben  moved  into  Plattsburg  and 
lived  just  a  few  blocks  to  the  northwest  of  the  Fou- 
quet  House.  It  was  a  comfortable,  pleasant  home, 
which  has  since  been  used  as  a  rectory  by  the  Epis- 
copal clergyman.  In  that  house  Clarence  was  born, 
May  30,  1820,  and  there  the  family  dwelt  till  he 
was  three  years  of  age.  It  was  whilst  a  resident 
of  Plattsburg  that  Reuben  H.  Walworth  served  the 
people  as  a  member  of  Congress. 

In  1823  he  was  appointed  circuit  judge  of  the 
Fourth  Judicial  District  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
and  removed  to  Saratoga  Springs,  living  at  "  Pine 
Grove,"  on  Broadway,  in  a  substantial  mansion  of 
wood  interlined  with  brick,  which  he  purchased 
from  Judge  Walton.  The  latter  built  himself  a 
new  home  at  WToodlawn,  north  of  the  village,  in 
what  is  now  often  called  Hilton's  Park. 

The  grove  of  tall,  lithe  pines  about  Judge  Wal- 
worth's Saratoga  home,  that  rocked  in  the  breezes 
and  sang  songs  to  his  children  and  grandchildren, 
was  a  beautiful  one.  It  has  dwindled  to  a  few 
giant  trunks.     Bereft  of  most  of  their  branches,  and 


8         Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

jet  majestic,  holding  their  sparse  clumps  of  needles 
up  a  hundred  or  more  feet  from  the  ground,  they 
still  cast  their  long  afternoon  shadows  across  Broad- 
way between  Walton  and  Van  Dam  streets.  The 
latter  was  named  for  Rip  Van  Dam,  a  Dutch  settler 
who  sold  "  Pine  Grove  "  to  Judge  Walton,  having 
secured  his  own  title  to  it  from  the  Indians.  The 
contour  of  the  mansion  under  the  pines  has  been 
much  changed.  The  early  morning  sunshine  still 
slips  through,  however,  between  newer  houses  op- 
posite, and  sends  cheering  rays  as  of  old  under  the 
great  street  elms.  At  breakfast  time  it  lights  up 
the  north  wing  office  and  courtroom,  that  can  still 
be  quaintly  entered  by  three  inside  steps.  It  also 
finds  its  way  into  the  old  south  parlor,  with  its 
stately  fireplace.  This  has  been  set  apart  with  other 
rooms  as  a  separate  apartment  or  cottage,  with  ac- 
cess through  a  modern  front  door.  One  larsje  cen- 
tral  room  and  a  broad  hall  subdivide  the  space  be- 
tween these  wings,  making  up  the  ample  seventy 
feet  front  of  the  old  homestead.  There  were  origi- 
nally two  floors  in  the  central  part,  the  wings  being 
but  one  story  high,  with  an  airy  basement  kitchen 
and  large  cellars  under  all.  It  was  a  white  house, 
with  green  shutters  and  several  delightful  piazzas, 
with  colonial  columns.  An  ornamental  fence,  of 
wood  —  cut  like  the  rest  from  "  the  forest  prime- 
val "  —  with  heavy  posts  and  curved  gates,  se- 
cluded the  place  from  the  street.  But  the  hospi- 
tality of  early  days  kept  their  hinges  on  the  swing.* 
It  was  after  a  residence  of  five  years  at  Saratoga 


*See  Reminiscences  of  Saratoga  by  W.  L.  Stone. 


Boyhood.  9 

that  Clarence's  father  became  chancellor  of  New 
York  State,  an  office  that  he  held  over  twenty  years. 
This  promotion  came  in  the  month  of  April,  1828. 
It  was  said  of  him  about  this  time  by  Captain 
Joshua  Harris :  "  He  is  before  Daniel  Webster  for 
pleading  law,  although  he  has  got  above  that." 
This  tribute  was  found  entered,  in  1829,  in  Mr.  J. 
J.  Walworth's  diary  by  Mr.  Arthur  Clarence  Wal- 
worth, of  Boston  and  Newton  Centre  in  Massa- 
chusetts. 

In  the  autumn  of  1829  the  chancellor  removed 
his  family  to  Albany.  There  he  dwelt  until  1833, 
when  he  returned  to  Saratoga  Springs,  making  that 
his  residence  thenceforth  throughout  the  year  till 
the  time  of  his  death,  November  28,  1867. 

In  Albany  he  occupied  at  first  a  house  in  Park 
place,  and  later  his  home  there  was  northwest  of 
the  capitol  on  Washington  avenue,  in  a  house  that 
'afterward  became  the  residence  of  Amasa  J. 
Parker,  Esq.  It  was  within  pleasant  walking  dis- 
tance both  of  courtrooms  and  academies.  Clar- 
ence's sisters,  Mary,  Sarah  and  Eliza,  who  wrere 
older  than  himself,  attended  the  Female  Academy, 
then  in  Pearl  street  north  of  Maiden  lane.  His 
brother  Mansfield,  a  native  of  Albany,  was  not  born 
until  December  3,  1830.  Clarence  himself  came  at 
once  under  Dr.  T.  Romeyn  Beck's  excellent  man- 
agement at  the  Boys'  Academy.  This  man's  char- 
acter won  his  undying  love  and  respect.  Several 
years  of  study  in  English,  Latin  and  French  were 
spent  at  this  academy,  interspersed  with  wrestling 
matches,  dancing  lessons  and  "  tag  in  the  mound." 


10      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Clarence  was  sent  to  a  boarding-school  in  the  Berk- 
shires  in  1830. 

There  he  received  a  long  letter  from  his  father. 
It  shows  what  care  and  thought  was  bestowed  on  this 
lively ,  intelligent  boy  of  ten  years.  The  eager  and 
happy  recipient  of  this  important  epistle  we  must 
also  picture  to  ourselves  as  well  developed  physi- 
callv,  and  fair  to  behold.  This  first  letter  was  fully 
understood  and  appreciated,  as  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  Clarence  treasured  it  to  his  dying 
day.     It  was  directed  to 

i  Clarence  Augustus  Walworth 
"  Williamstown 
"  Mass. 
"  Care  of  Mr.  A.  Clark." 

It  is  here  given  in  full: 

Albany.,  September  6,  1830. 

My  Dear  Son  —  Having  arrived  at  an  age  when  you  must 
begin  to  think  and  act  for  yourself,  it  now  becomes  your  duty 
to  apply  yourself  diligently  to  obtain  an  education  which 
will  fit  you  for  usefulness  hereafter.  Removed  for  the  first 
time  from  beneath  the  paternal  roof,  you  should  now  begin  to 
look  forward  to  the  day  which  is  not  distant,  when  you  will 
be  permanently  separated  from  the  parents  who  have  hitherto 
watched  over  you  in  the  helpless  years  of  infancy.  1  now  write 
to  you  as  a  young  gentleman  commencing  his  education, 
and  who  intends  to  make  himself  useful  and  respected  through 
life.  If  you  commence  with  that  determination  you  will 
certainly  succeed.  If  you  improve  the  opportunity  now  offered 
for  the  attainment  of  useful  knowledge  and  the  cultivation 
of  your  mind,  and  continue  to  preserve  a  character  for  in- 
dustry and  sobriety,  you  cannot  fail  to  be  honored,  beloved 
and  respected  after  you  arrive  at  manhood.  But  if  you  waste 
the    next   ten   years    of    your    life    in    idleness,    or    neglect   of 


Boyhood.  11 

your  studies,  the  season  for  improvement  will  have  passed  by, 
and  for  the  residue  of  your  life  you  will  be  neglected  or 
despised.  Recollect  therefore  that  everything  depends  on  your 
present  exertions  and  upon  the  use  you  now  make  of  your 
time.  I  shall  be  able  to  give  you  very  little  besides  the  neces- 
sary expenses  of  your  education.  And  when  you  become  of 
age  you  must  expect  to  provide  for  yourself.  But  wealth 
and  honor  are  within  your  reach  and  may  be  obtained  by  your 
own  exertions.  Strive  to  be  first  in  your  class,  first  in  your 
school,  first  in  every  situation  in  which  you  may  be  placed. 
If  you  do  this  you  will  be  the  favorite  of  your  instructor, 
an  ornament  of  the  school  and  the  pride  of  your  parents, 
as  you  may  hereafter  hope  to  be  the  pride  and  ornament 
of  your  country.  If  you  wish  to  be  a  gentleman  be  careful 
always  to  conduct  yourself  like  one.  Scorn  to  tell  a  lie  on 
any  occasion,  or  to  be  guilty  of  any  mean  or  dishonorable 
action.  Be  civil  to  your  fellow  students  and  kind  and  oblig- 
ing to  all  if  you  wish  to  be  beloved  and  respected  by  them. 
Never  wrangle  or  quarrel  yourself,  nor  interfere  with  the 
quarrels  of  others  except  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  or 
settling  disputes.  Never  remain  in  ignorance  of  anything 
which  you  can  learn  by  examining  your  books  or  by  inquiring 
of  your  preceptor.  Be  civil  and  obliging  to  Mrs.  Sloane  and 
follow  her  directions  as  to  your  clothes  etc.,  and  she  will 
be  as  a  kind  mother  to  you.  Pray  to  God  to  keep  you  from 
everything  that  is  evil,  that  you  may  be  loved  and  respected 
thro'  life,  and  enjoy  the  society  of  the  blessed  in  Christ, 
hereafter. 

I  shall  go  to  Saratoga  for  your  mother  and  Mary  on 
Wednesday.  Sarah  and  Eliza  are  here  already.  Your  letters 
for  your  mother  must  therefore  be  directed  to  Albany  in 
future.  The  news  of  the  recent  revolution  in  France,  produced 
by  the  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  acts  of  the  king,  you  have 
probably  already  seen  in  the  paper. 

Your   affectionate   father, 

R.  H.  Walworth. 
Master   Clarence  Augustus   Walworth. 

Could   such   words,   from   such   a   source,   fail  of 
their  effect  in  forming  character? 


12       Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Walworth. 

This  was  followed  by  a  second  letter  equally  in- 
structive and  no  less  valued.  There  are  two  copies 
of  it  extant.  One  is  in  the  chancellor's  own  hand- 
writing and  the  other  in  that  of  Clarence.  He  was 
often  asked  for  his  fathers  autograph.  If  he  ever 
had  a  thought  of  yielding  this  original  letter  to  some 
biographer  or  collector,  he  must  have  changed  his 
mind.  After  his  death  it  was  found,  with  the  copy 
he  had  made  of  it,  among  his  private  papers.  It 
is  worded  as  follows: 

Albany,  Oct.  18,  1830. 

My  Dear  Son  :  —  Since  my  letter  of  the  6th.  of  September, 
I  have  been  most  of  the  time  in  Xew  York  attending  the 
court  of  Errors  which  lias  prevented  my  writing  sooner. 
I  met  Mr.  Clark  there  last  week  and  had  the  pleasure  of 
learning  from  him  that  you  were  making  good  progress  in 
your  studies,  particularly  in  Arithmetic.  That  is  an  im- 
portant branch  in  education  in  whatever  situation  you  may 
hereafter  be  placed  in  life.  By  it  you  will  learn  to  compute 
the  value  of  time  and  the  great  waste  that  the  loss  of  a 
single  hour  each  day  may  produce  in  the  few  years  allotted 
to  you  to  prepare  for  a  life  of  usefulness  and  honor.  It  will 
also  teach  you  the  necessity  of  prudence  and  economy,  by 
showing  the  aggregate  of  your  daily  expenses  at  the  end  of 
each  year,  and  you  will  also  see  that  a  single  shilling  saved 
each  day  and  placed  at  compound  interest  will  make  a  man 
wealthy  and  independent  in  the  course  of  a  few  years.  Arith- 
metic is  absolutely  necessary  in  all  the  ordinary  businesses 
and  pursuits  of  life,  and  the  study  of  the  higher  branches 
of  mathematics  tend  to  enlarge  the  powers  of  the  mind,  and 
produce  habits  of  thinking  and  reasoning  from  causes  and 
effects  which  are  calculated  to  make  you  useful  and  respected 
in  the  world.  I  hope  therefore  you  will  not  be  contented 
with  obtaining  a  mere  superficial  knowledge  of  this  most 
important  branch  of  science  and  education.  Converse  freely 
with  your  preceptor  upon  everything  you  do  not  fully  under- 


Boyhood.  13 

stand  and  never  rest  satisfied  until  you  are  fully  acquainted 
with  the  use  of  figures  as  applied  to  every  subject  which 
may  hereafter  be  useful  to  you  either  in  the  study  of  other 
sciences  or  in  the  business  of  life.  Be  also  vigilant  and 
attentive  to  vour  other  studies  and  let  no  branch  of  vour 
education  be  neglected.  The  study  of  Latin  is  dry  and  un- 
interesting but  it  is  very  important  in  giving  you  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  our  own  language,  and  the  proper  meaning  and 
application  of  words  derived  from  the  Latin.  And  the  Greek 
is  also  important  in  this  respect  although  you  may  never 
have  occasion  to  look  into  a  Greek  book  after  your  education 
is  finished.  Recollect  also  that  you  may  be  placed  in  a 
situation  where  a  knowledge  of  these  dead  languages  may 
afford  you  the  means  of  support  and  may  even  place  you  at 
the  head  of  some  of  our  most  distinguished  colleges  or  other 
seminaries  of  learning.  Study  mineralogy  and  botany  for 
your  amusement  in  your  leisure  hours  to  expand  your  mind 
and  increase  your  store  of  general  information,  but  learn 
writing,  arithmetic,  English  grammar,  Greek,  Latin,  French, 
composition  and  declamation,  or  the  habit  of  public  speaking, 
as  the  foundation  and  only  sure  means  of  making  yourself 
great  and  respected  and  useful  in  after  life.  Write  fre- 
quently to  your  mother  and  other  members  of  the  family 
as  this  will  tend  to  improve  your  talent  in  composition ; 
and  be  careful  always  to  run  over  your  letters  after  they  are 
written  to  see  that  there  are  no  grammatical  errors,  and  if 
you  find  you  have  not  expressed  your  ideas  in  the  best  lan- 
guage correct  the  letter  and  recopy  it  before  it  is  sent. 

And  before  closing  this  letter,  let  me  again  remind  you 
that  all  your  hopes  and  prospects  of  wealth,  honor  and 
respectability  in  life  depend  on  your  own  exertions  alone. 
Although  your  father  occupies  a  high  and  responsible  station 
in  society,  that  cannot  make  you  respected  unless  you  improve 
the  advantages  which  you  now  have  to  cultivate  your  mind, 
and  preserve  those  habits  of  honesty,  sobriety  and  industry 
which  alone  can  raise  you  to  honor  among  your  fellow  citizens 
hereafter.  By  industry,  study  and  perseverance  you  may 
reasonably  hope  for  the  most  exalted  situations,  but  without 
this  you  can  be  nothing.     Finally  look  to  God  for  his  blessing 


14:      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

in  all  your  endeavors  to  acquire  knowledge  and  may  he  keep 
and  preserve  you  from  every  bad  habit  and  evil   way. 

Your  affectionate  father, 

R.  H.  Walworth. 
Master    Clarence   Augustus   Walworth. 

P.  S.  Preserve  my  letters  and  all  others  of  any  importance 
which  you  receive  from  your  friends  and  fold  and  tie  them  up 
together,  as  you  may  find  it  beneficial  to  refer  to  them  here- 
after when,  perhaps,  death  may  have  separated  you  from  them 
forever.  If  there  are  any  words  in  my  letters  you  do  not 
understand,  look  in  the  dictionary  and  find  their  meaning, 
so  that  you  will  fully  comprehend  what  I  intend  to  say. 


II. 

COLLEGE    DAYS. 

In  Prospect  and  In  Retrospect  —  Old  Time  Culture  at 
Williamstown  and  Albany. 

Some  details  to  be  here  set  forth  may  at  first 
seem  disconnected  or  out  of  place.  Further  investi- 
gation will  show,  however,  that  they  belong  in 
one  way  or  another  to  a  continuous  trend  of 
thought,  ^sot  one  of  them  but  throws  its  share  of 
light  on  the  training  and  motives  of  the  character 
to  be  herein  dwelt  upon  in  many  varying  phases. 
Since  interesting  developments  come  later  on,  it  may 
prove  no  loss  of  time  to  linger  thoughtfully  about 
the  trickling  sources  of  a  great  river;  or,  to  study 
the  soil  wherein  some  sturdy,  acorn  has  been  coaxed 
to  shoot  forth  its  latent  energies,  as  well  downward 
toward  cool  welling  water  as  upward  into  blazing 
sunlight. 

The  boy  who  received  the  two  interesting  letters 
addressed  to  Williamstown  bv  Chancellor  Walworth 
in  the  autumn  of  1830  was  living  in  the  Sloan 
house.  Later  it  was  the  home  of  three  presidents 
of  Williams  College  and  it  is  now  owned  by  a  college 
society.  It  was  the  most  beautiful  mansion  that 
could  then  be  approached  through  the  broad  avenues 
and  over  the  grassy  lawns  of  that  mountain-girt 
town.  Even  yet  it  draws  the  eye  of  the  stranger 
with  a  charm  all  its  own,  as  to  a  center  of  quaint 


16      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

elegance  and  good  taste,  standing  as  it  does  in  the 
very  midst  of  an  ever-increasing  cluster  of  costly 
university  buildings.  How  wise  they  have  been  at 
Williams  College  whilst  keeping  abreast  of  the 
times  to  let  no  ancient  beauty  of  architecture  or 
landscape  gardening  escape  them!  How  short- 
sighted were  they  at  Albany  to  allow  the  students  of 
a  college  society  to  carry  over  the  state  line  to  Berk- 
shire countv  the  ^rand  old  manor  house  built  for 
the  Patroons  of  Rensselaerwyck !  To  let  it  go  from 
the  bank  of  the  Hudson  for  Williamstown  vines  to 
clamber  over  and  caress !  There  it  stands  on  a  well- 
kept  lawn,  with  new  mortar  between  its  bricks,  but 
every  brick  in  place,  its  old  contour  intact.  When 
it  stood  in  the  northern  part  of  Albany,  Father  Wal- 
worth used  often  to  pilot  his  friends  from  St.  Mary's 
rectory  through  Steuben  street  and  Broadway  to 
visit  it. 

"  Historically,  it  is  the  most  interesting  building 
in  Albany,"  he  would  say,  "  and  a  fine  piece  of 
architecture,  as  you  see.  When  it  passes  from  the 
hands  of  the  Van  Rensselaer?,  the  city  should  own  it 
as  a  museum." 

His  taste  in  more  ways  than  one  was  doubtless 
formed  bv  earlv  contact  with  the  scholarlv  atmos- 
phere  of  Williams  College.  Hence,  his  speech 
on  "  School  Education,"  before  a  sreat  convoca- 
tion  in  the  Albany  Capitol,  in  July,  1887,  when 
he  received  his  degree  of  LL.  D.  from  the  Regents 
of  the  University  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  begins 
thus : 

"  I  would  be  something  more  or  less  than  human 
did   I  not  feel   deeply  honored   in  being:  invited  to 


College  Days  17 

address  a  body  so  dignified  and  learned  as  the 
Regents  and  scholars  that  compose  this  convocation. 
I  feel  that  here  I  am  breathing  the  atmosphere  of  a 
true  university.  According  to  my  view,  a  uni- 
versity cannot  be  created  bv  a  mere  charter,  bv  any 
amount  of  money,  nor  in  any  short  period  of  time. 
It  is  not  some  building  with  spreading  wings  and 
high  towers;  it  is  not  a  name;  it  is  not  a  place;  it 
it  not  a  mere  college,  incorporated  by  law,  with  power 
to  confer  degrees;  it  is  something  more  even  than  a 
union  of  colleges  with  different  departments  devoted 
each  to  special  studies.  It  is  a  certain  center  of 
learning  and  thought,  the  healthy  growth  of  many 
years,  the  child  of  many  combining  graces.  It  is  a 
traditionary  atmosphere,  an  influence,  a  breath,  a 
soul,  an  inspiration  that  hovers  about  a  locality 
where  learned  men  have  once  lived,  and  thoughtful 
learners  still  love  to  gather.  God  grant  a  long  life 
to  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York !  And 
long  may  its  yearly  convocations  assemble  in  this 
city !"  These  words,  together  with  the  masterful  yet 
winning  presence  of  the  speaker,  sharpened  the  edge 
of  interest  to  closest  attention.  All  in  the  Senate 
chamber  seemed  to  listen  and  applaud  as  one  man, 
whether  they  had  come  from  New  England  or  the 
Rocky  Mountain  States,  from  Virginia  or  Michigan ; 
or,  on  the  limited  "  flyers  "  through  the  wheat  zone 
and  western  plains  from  our  younger  giant  cities 
whose  new-fledged  seats  of  learning  are  just  flutter- 
ing into  notice.  Some,  at  least,  of  this  audience 
must  have  been  familiar  with  the  unique  campus  of 
old  Williams.  How  ^entlv  it  is  curved  bv  the  sub- 
siding  rolls  of  the  Green  Mountains,  while  not  yet 


18      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

dipping  into  the  fair  narrowing  valley  southward, 
across  which  Mount  Greylock  peers  through  the 
Hopper  and  over  Berlin  mountain  far  into  New 
York  State.  Have  you  who  have  read  these  pages 
ever  delved  in  the  library  of  that  college,  deciphered 
the  professors'  tombstones,  and  rested  by  the  Hay- 
stack monument  in  Mission  Park  ?  Have  vou  won- 
dered  at  the  quaint  observatory,  the  first  of  many 
that  crown  American  hilltops,  now  abandoned  as 
outgrown,  perched  on  the  rocks,  emptied  of  all  its 
equipments,  and  worthless  save  to  arouse  thought? 
Have  you  recognized  the  names  of  her  Alumni  on 
the  backs  of  library  books  and  noticed  not  only  the 
generous  gifts  of  her  prosperous  sons,  but  the 
thoughtful  faces  of  some  of  her  courteous  under- 
graduates ?  Those,  who  blush  not  to  work  their  way  to 
classic  honors,  by  humble  and  uncongenial  tasks  dur- 
ing the  vacation  time,  while  with  laudable  pride  they 
show  strangers  their  Alma  Mater?  If  so,  can  you, 
thus  knowing  Williams,  with  all  its  whispering  mem- 
ories, reflect  for  a  moment  on  Father  Walworth's  de- 
scription of  a  university,  and  not  read  between  the 
lines  his  vivid  recollection  of  the  spot  where  he  first 
awoke  to  the  life  of  a  scholar  ?  *  Surelv  his  words 
fit  it  well,  though  he  doubtless  had  no  intention  of 
excluding  from  his  thought  other  seats  of  learn- 
ing both  ancient  and  beautiful.  I  myself  never  saw 
him  happier  in  sightseeing  abroad  than  when  ramb- 


*  Our  twentieth  century,  too,  has  its  tributes  to  the  older, 
eastern  colleges.  In  the  North  American  Review  for  October, 
1904,  Mr.  Win.  K.  Harper  wrote  thus:  "  Who  does  not  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  it  has  been  Harvard,  and  Yale,  and  Brown, 
and  Amherst,  and  Williams,  and  a  score  of  other  names  equally 
well  known,  that  have  given  us  in  the  west  our  ideals  and 
our  teachers?  " 


College  Days  19 

ling  among  the  many  colleges  of  Oxford  University. 
He  was  not  satisfied  till  he  had  persuaded  the  bell 
ringer  to  let  him  "  bone  the  big  Tom "  with  his 
own  hands;  and  how  the  authors  of  old  England 
seemed  to  walk  the  halls  again,  as  he  talked  of  them ! 
Once  he  took  me  to  our  own  capital,  the  City  of  Wash- 
ington, and  after  noting  the  increase  and  magnifi- 
cence of  the  government  buildings,  he  lingered  longest 
of  all  at  Georgetown  University.  That,  too,  like  other 
early  American  foundations,  having  outgrown  its 
equipment,  a  massive  new  building  was  in  course  of 
construction.  I  marvelled  at  his  interest  in  every 
detail,  as  he  talked  with  the  Jesuit  Father,  who 
showed  us  the  modern  lecture  halls  and  dormitories 
which  were  still  littered  with  workmen's  tools.  I 
remember  that  he  said  as  he  stamped  his  foot  on  the 
heavy  stonework :  "  That's  the  way  to  build ;  solid, 
and  to  last.  Your  colleges  here  have,  already,  a 
hundred  years  of  history,  and  I  see  you  are  planning 
this  j>resent  structure  to  stand  the  wear  and  tear  of 
at  least  another  hundred.  With  the  Potomac  on  one 
side  of  you  and  that  magnificent  shady  park  on  the 
other,  so  secluded,  and  yet  so  near  to  the  halls  of 
Congress,  you  are,  indeed,  well  placed.  Much  that 
I  see  and  hear  at  the  present  time  points  to  a  great 
future  for  Georgetown ;  and,  especially,  for  her  Law 
School." 

Father  Walworth's  love  of  learning  began  early 
and  never  left  him.*  In  his  youth  he  drank  deep  and 
long  from  the  wells  of  thought  at  several  widely 
known   universities.      He  was   prepared  for  college 


*  The  greater  part  of  his  valuable  library  was  bequeathed  in  a  codicil 
to  the  Catholic  University  of  America. 


20      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

partly  at  the  Albany  Boys'  Academy,  and  partly,  as 
we  have  seen,  at  the  Sloan  School,  which,  however, 
was  discontinued  soon  after  the  year  1832.*  Wil- 
liamstown,  unquestionably,  was  then  and  is  still  a 
very  stronghold  of  Presbyterianisrn  and  certain  al- 
lied forms  of  Evangelicalism.  He  afterward  entered 
Union  College  at  Schenectady, — a  union  of  many  de- 
nominations,— at  the  early  age  of  fourteen  years. 
He  passed  on  to  his  graduation  there  in  1838.  Dur- 
ing the  next  three  years  he  was  a  law  student  at 
Canandaigua  and  Albany,  in  lawyers'  offices,  the 
Albany  Law  School  not  having  as  yet  been  founded. 
After  an  interval  of  law  practice,  he  went  to  the 
General  Seminary  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  !N"ew 
York  City,  for  another  three  years  of  deep  lin- 
guistic and  historic  study.  He  gave  close  attention  to 
exegetics,  general  book  lore  and  advanced  lecture 
courses  in  preparation  for  preaching.  Even  yet  his 
thirst  for  knowledge  was  not  slaked.  Immediately 
afterward  he  applied  himself  for  three  years  to  the 
study  of  Roman  Catholic  Theolo^v  abroad :  one  vear, 
at  St.  Trond  in  Belgium,  and  the  remaining  two 
years  in  the  College  of  Wittem  or  Wilre,  in  Holland, 
graduating  there  in  1818.  Hobart  College,  in  his 
native  State,  gave  him  his  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 
Among  his  many  intellectual  accomplishments  ora- 
tory claimed  the  preserving  devotion  of  Father 
Walworth,  a  devotion  which  spared  no  labor  and 
counted  no  personal  cost.  He  was  familiar  with 
the  distinct  literary  qualifications  of  every  famous 
statesman,  pleader,  lecturer,  could  describe  the  details 


*  See   History   of   Berkshire    County;    J.    B.    Beers   &   Co..    New 
York,   1885:  page  G70. 


College  Days  21 

of  his  elocutionary  art,  and  shrewdly  give  many  a 
cause  of  his  success  in  speaking,  not  apparent  to 
others.  He  went  to  see  and  hear  such  individuals 
whenever  he  could,  to  watch,  to  listen,  and  to  come 
home  the  wiser.  Thus  he  was  ever  looking  forward 
to  the  preparation  of  his  next  speech,  sermon,  spir- 
itual conference  or  instruction.  His  study  of  his 
native  tongue  was  no  less  thorough  and  persistent. 
Nothing,  however  remote,  that  could  throw  light  on 
the  meaning  and  use  of  English  words  w^as  indif- 
ferent to  him.  From  his  point  of  view  words  were 
as  the  food,  clothing,  weapons,  tools,  vehicles  and 
housing  of  human  thought,  and  human  thought  at  its 
best  ever  reflects  and  echoes  the  mind  of  God.  To 
make  such  reflections  glow  brighter  and  such  echoes 
resound  afar  was  his  life  work. 

His  education  in  French  and  Latin  seems  from  the 
first  to  have  kept  pace  with  his  studies  in  English. 
Already  at  the  Albany  Academy  he  had  learned  to 
take  down  French  dictation  of  easy  sentences  cor- 
rectly from  one  whom  he  considered  an  excellent 
master.  His  estimate  of  his  Latin  teachers  up  to  the 
time  of  his  junior  year  at  Union  may  be  gathered 
from  the  following  words  of  his  Convocation  Address 
at  the  Albany  Capitol,  the  opening  paragraph  of 
which  has  been  already  quoted : 

"  I  began  the  study  of  Latin  at  a  very  early  age. 
!Now  I  am  an  earnest  advocate  of  Latin  as  a  founda- 
tion study  for  all  who  aspire  to  anything  like  a  broad 
and  advanced  stage  of  learning.  But  I  began  it  too 
early,  and  I  began  it  with  the  grammar.  Now  all 
grammar  is  hard  and  Latin  grammar  is  very  hard  to 
an  English  child.     I  found  it  so  and  so  did  all  of  mv 


22      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

class."  [Lew  Benedict,  Ambrose  Cassidy,  Francis 
Low,  John  Pruyn,  Charles  Schoolcraft,  John  Ten 
Ejck,  Franklin  Townsend,  Maunsell  Van  Rensselaer, 
Isaac  Ver  Planck  and  John  Wilder  were  among  his 
classmates  during  the  year  1828  when  he  was  eight 
years  old.  Another  of  his  schoolmates  Avas  John 
Olcott.]  "  But  when  we  came  to  the  rules  of  quan- 
tity," he  continued,  "  when  we  were  required  to  scan 
Latin  verse,  when  we  were  called  upon  to  name 
trochees,  and  spondees,  and  dactyls,  when  we  were 
forced  to  say  whether  a  confounded  syllable  was 
long  or  short,  and  whether  so  by  position  or  author- 
ity, or  for  some  other  unintelligible  reason,  we  felt 
that  we  were  subjected  to  a  persecution.  Of  course 
we  were  obliged  to  guess,  and  of  course  we  generally 
blundered,  and  when  we  blundered  we  were  called 
blockheads.  Worse  consequences  sometimes  followed 
and  we  stood  ready  to  dodge.  If  our  teacher  had 
been  able  to  read  our  thoughts,  he  would  have  heard 
something  like  poor  Joe's  protest  against  the 
preacher:  (  You  just  let  me  alone.  I  haven't  done 
nothin'  to  you  and  I  don't  want  you  to  do  nothin' 
to  me.'     *     *     * 

"  It  is  certain  that,  at  our  school,  we  learned  little 
of  Latin  quantity,  or  the  metre  of  Latin  verse;  all 
that  was  required  of  us  was  to  measure  off  the  lines 
into  sections  of  two  or  three  syllables  each,  without 
making  the  slightest  account  of  rhythm,  or  time  or 
accent.  This  is  the  way  we  did  it :  'Arma  vi- 
Rumque  ca-No  Tro'  etc. 

"  Some  years  afterward  I  found  out,  to  mv  Great 
astonishment  and  delight,  and  in  one  single  hour, 
what  I  had  failed  to  comprehend  when  drudging  in 


College  Days  23 

this  academical  tread-mill.  I  had  for  room-mate  at 
Union  College,  during  my  junior  year,  Edward 
Tuckerman,  of  Boston,  afterward  professor  at  Am- 
herst. One  day,  while  occupied  with  a  copy  of 
Horace,  he  suddenly  exclaimed :  c  By  George,  Wal- 
worth, this  is  beautiful !  '  '  What  is  beautiful  ? '  said 
I.  i  Why,  this  ode/  naming  it :  '  the  poetry  is  ex- 
quisite, and  the  very  rhythm  is  delightful.7  He  then 
read  it  to  me,  as  he  had  been  taught  to  read  Latin 
verse  under  happier  influences  than  those  which  had 
blockaded  my  own  young  brain,  not  dividing  the 
lines  into  clownish  sprawls,  but  making  them  vibrate 
in  rhythmic  waves,  without  forgetting  anything  de- 
manded by  quantity,  or  the  sense  of  the  words,  or  by 
poetic  feeling  thus : 

'  Vides  ut  alta  stet  nive  candidum 
Soracte,  nee  jam  sustineant  onus 
Silvae   laborantes,   Geluque 
Flumina  constiterint  acuto/ 

As  he  read,  not  only  the  poetry,  but  the  music  of 
the  measure,  sank  into  my  soul.  c  This  is  indeed 
beautiful,'  said  I,  '  why  I  could  dance  to  such  time 
as  that ! '  " 

The  storm  of  applause  that  swept  over  the  new 
Senate  chamber  showed  how  well  the  scholarly  audi- 
ence appreciated  the  power  and  sweetness  of  Father 
Walworth's  voice  and  action  while  the  lines  of 
Horace  dropped  in  rich,  mellow,  bell-like  tones  from 
his  tongue. 

Despite  his  sling  at  the  academical  tread-mill  of 
early  days,  Clarence  was  grateful  to  Dr.  Bullions, 
his  Latin  master,  for  equipping  him  with  a  complete 


21      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

mastery  of  grammar,  syntax  and  construction,  a 
solid  foundation  for  higher  classical  studies.  The 
youthful  orators  of  the  Albany  Academy  in  his  time 
were  usually  marched  to  the  music  of  a  band  through 
the  streets,  and  then  up  to  the  old  brown  capitol,  that 
was  surmounted  by  the  once  familiar  statue  of 
Justice,  with  the  scales.  There  in  the  State's  first 
Senate  chamber,  before  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  boys  contested  for  their  gold  medals. 

At  Williamstown,  too,  in  those  days  the  subject  of 
oratory  was  not  neglected.  Dr.  Griffin,  himself  a 
pulpit  orator,  "  a  man  of  courtly  manners  from  the 
City  of  Boston,"  presided  over  Williams  whilst 
Clarence  lived  there  close  by  West  College  in  the 
Sloan  Mansion.  It  has  already  been  stated  that 
three  presidents  made  that  house  their  official  resi- 
dence. They  were  Presidents  Mark  Hopkins,  Paul 
A.  Chadbourne  and  Franklin  Carter.  Whilst  it  was 
still  used  as  a  preparatory  school,  the  Sloan  family 
and  that  of  Judge  Noble  had  the  honor  seats,  or 
front  pews,  in  the  broad  aisle  of  the  Second  Meeting 
House  (built  in  1797).  In  or  near  that  point  of 
vantage,  Chancellor  Walworth's  son  sat  through  Dr. 
Griffin's  long  and  soul-stirring  sermons,  at  least 
every  third  Sunday.  At  such  times  Mr.  Gridley,  the 
local  pastor,  went  to  officiate  at  South  Williamstown. 
It  was  considered  a  great  privilege  to  listen  to  the 
reverend  founder  of  Griffin  Hall,  who  was  known 
far  and  wide  as  "  the  prince  of  preachers." 
William  Hyde,  a  graduate  of  1826,  and  the  son  of 


*  See   "  Williamstown  and   Williams  College,"  by  A.    L.   Perry; 
p.  494. 


College  Days  25 

a  Vice-President  of  Williams,  has  given  quite  a  full 
account  of  his  style,  thus: 

"  Dr.  Griffin  preached  with  great  power  in  the 
church,  in  the  chapel  and  in  schoolhouses  packed 
full.  The  whole  town  was  moved,  as  was  the  col- 
lege. Many  were  converted  who  have  been  promi- 
nent in  the  University  and  as  missionaries.  I  never 
heard  such  powerful  presentation  of  truth.  His 
style  would  now  be  called  artificial.  It  Avas  studied, 
elaborate,  finished,  not  at  all  adapted  to  these  days. 
I  heard  the  sermon  on  the  i  Worth  of  the  Soul ' 
three  times  while  in  college,  and  the  i  Flood  Sermon,' 
as  many.  His  majestic  presence  and  his  studied 
modulations  and  gestures  could  not  be  printed.  The 
relations  of  the  college  and  town  were  always 
friendlv.  The  students  were  as  gallant  to  the  ladies 
as  now,  and  as  many  found  life  partners.  What 
changes  in  fiftv  years !     *     *  '  Do  you  make 

better  men,'  he  asks,  '  than  when  it  cost  self-denial 
to  work  through  college  ? '  " 

William  Hyde  had  already  described  in  the  same 
paper  *  how  Professor  Dewey  who  had  a  small 
wooden  building  for  chemistry,  apart  from  East  and 
West  College,  drew  his  illustrations  and  worked  his 
problems  with  chalk  on  the  floor  of  the  recitation 
room,  when  lecturing  on  natural  philosophy  and  as- 
tronomy. Professor  Kellogg  had  an  open  Franklin 
stove  in  his  room  in  West  College.  That  was  luxury 
in  those  days.  William  Cullen  Bryant,  "  on  the 
third  floor,  close  by  the  door  of  entrance  to  the 
dormitory   room   ~No.    11,"  had   only   an   open   fire- 


*  See  "  Williamstown  and  Willams  College." 


26       Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Walworth. 

place,  as  had  the  students  generally.  The  chapel  had 
one  stove  but  no  tire  in  it  when  they  went  to  prayers 
at  6  o'clock  on  cold  winter  mornings,  and  there  they 
waited  and  shivered  whilst  the  Scriptures  were  read 
bv  the  licht  of  tallow  candles.  Wood  was  two  dollars 
a  cord.  The  students  bought  it,  cut  it  themselves  and 
carried  it  to  their  rooms.  This  was  exercise  and 
amusement.  There  were  no  baseball  or  boating 
clubs,  but  they  kicked  football.  Pipes  and  tobacco 
were  common.  "  I  gave  them  up  in  the  revival  of 
my  senior  year,"  wrote  William  Hyde,  "  and  have 
not  resumed  their  use."     That  year  was  1826. 

These  revivals  were  a  notable  feature  of  life  at 
Williams  and  occurred  also  at  Union  during  ( larence 
Walworth's  college  course.  At  the  close  of  1825  only 
four  students  at  the  former  college  remained  uncon- 
verted. Seventy  were  hopefully  pious,  and  eleven 
absent.  A  new  chapel,  now  Griffin  Hall,  was  built 
in  1828.  Ebenezer  Emmons  succeeded  Professor 
Dewey  a  year  earlier.  He  was  the  professor  of 
mathematics  and  natural  philosophy  until  1836  and 
as  one  of  the  deacons  at  Williamstown  was  on  that 
account  also  a  familiar  figure  to  Clarence,  who  later 
treasured  on  his  bookshelves  some  cumbrous  volumes 
of  Emmons'  Geological  Survey  of  l^ew  York  State. 

There  were  relapses  between  the  revivals,  when 
intemperance,  card  playing  and  malicious  mischief 
went  on,  such  as  the  stealing  and  defacing  of  a 
Bible  and  even  setting  the  college  afire.  In  1S.°>0 
"twenty  professors  of  religion  had  given  up  their 
hopes."  So  another  revival  was  preached  in  lS-0>2. 
That  of  1826  has  been  well  described  from  a  stu- 
dent's  point  of   view   by    Albert   Hopkins,    then    a 


College  Days  27 

junior  at  Williams.     It  may  stand  as  a  type;  hence 
his  account  of  it,  in  an  abridged  form,  is  given.     The 
names  of  the  revivalists  on  this  occasion  are  not  re- 
corded.    In   1825    they  had   been   the   Rev.   Alvan 
Hyde,  of  Lee,  and  Rev.  David  Dudley  Field,  Sr.,  of 
Stockbridge,  "  two  country  ministers,"  who  came  up 
to  Williamstown  to  visit,  pray  and  exhort.  Mr.  Field 
was  a  Yale  man,  if  not  a  city  man.     Whosoever  the 
preachers  might  be,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  fervid 
pastor  of  the  church,  Mr.  Gridley,  to  set  apart,  as  a 
fast  day,  the  day  of  their  visitation.     The  faculty 
suspended  literary  exercises  for  the  time,  to  afford 
liberty   for  prayer   and   conference.      According   to 
Albert  Hopkins'  account,  a  meeting  was  appointed  at 
the  college  for  the  morning  hours  in  the  senior  reci- 
tation room,  which  was  warmed  as  usual  by  a  wood 
fire  in  a  box  stove.     But  few  of  the  students  were 
serious.     Many  of  them  were  very  bold  sinners,  and 
came  in  whirling  their  hats  across  the  room  as  if  in 
derision.     After  all  were  assembled,  a  marked  still- 
ness settled  down  upon  them.     Tutors  Harvey  and 
Mark  Hopkins,  former  classmates  and  warm  personal 
friends,  both  of  whom  had  entered  upon  a  decided 
religious   life,    directed   this   meeting.      After   some 
moments  of  silence  a   student,  notoriously  profane, 
arose  with  a  deep  solemnity  of  countenance.     Said 
he,    "  Will    you    trifle    with    your   souls  ? '       Every 
head  was  bowed,  the  most  hardened  were  melted  and 
the  meeting  became  a  scene  of  indescribable  interest. 
In  the  afternoon  there  was  a  meeting  at  the  church. 
For  two  or  three  days  it  was  impossible  to  study. 
There  was  a  prayer-meeting  going  on  in  each  college 
building  from  morning  to  night,  in  some  room  or 


28      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

other.  All  turned  to  the  Bible.  The  majority  "  ob- 
tained hopes  "  nearly  at  the  same  time,  and  others 
not  manv  days  after. 

At  The  spring  Term,  There  was  a  renewal  of  the 
same  scenes.  The  work  went  on,  with  more  or  less 
power,  nnTil  the  warm  season  opened ;  and  a  sermon 
was  preached  at  the  close  of  the  term,  as  had  been 
done  in  1812.  At  this  time,  there  was  an  Anti- 
Slavery  society  at  Williams,  and  a  College  Temper- 
ance society  was  organized  as  early  as   1827. 

After  The  revivals  Mark  Hopkins  continued  to 
hold  noon  prayer  meetings.  His  Alma  Mater  became 
known  later  as  "  The  Missionary  College."  In  1829 
Albert  Hopkins,  to  whom  wTe  are  indebted  for  the 
above  record  of  early  college  events,  taught  to  the 
students  at  Williamstown  "  The  Doctrine  of  Perfec- 
tion," as  it  was  held  at  Oberlin. 

Some  of  these  facts  may  seem  aside  from  our  sub- 
ject, but  let  it  be  considered  that  they  must  have  be- 
come frequent  subjects  of  conversation  in  and 
around  the  Sloan  Mansion,  the  temporary  home  of 
Clarence,  where,  to  use  an  expression  of  those  days, 
"  Little  pitchers  had  big  ears." 

Is  it  likely  either  that  the  religions  dispositions 
of  Dr.  Griffin's  good  daughter,  Ellen,  were  uncom- 
mented  upon  at  local  firesides?  She  was  converted 
to  the  point  of  answering  his  question,  '  Do  you  think 
you  deserve  hell  ? '  by  the  meek  words :  "  O,  I  know 
I  do!  "  Surely  she  was  compassionated  by  the  gayer 
and  more  fashionable  ladies  of  handsome  Major 
Douglas  Sloan's  household.  He  and  his  sisters  were 
looked  upon  as  the  rural  aristocrats  of  the  town.  He 
was  then  the  only  resident  graduate  of  Williams  who 


College  Days  29 

had  the  further  advantage  of  a  three  years'  course  at 
the  famous  Law  School  in  Litchfield,  Conn. 
His  law  office  was  "  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  pres- 
ent Kappa  Alpha  lot,  nearly  opposite  the  old  Man- 
sion House."  Professor  Perry  records  these  details 
in  his  work  entitled  "  Williamstown  and  Williams 
College."  On  page  44,  his  account  of  Douglas  Sloan 
and  his  household  continues  thus :  "  He  had  a  boys' 
school  in  the  Sloan  house  after  his  mother's  death, 
and  the  late  Dr.  Alonzo  Clark  was  principal  of  it  for 
a  time  after  his  graduation  from  college  in  '28,  and 
Nelson  E.  Spencer  of  '32  was  an  assistant,  and  after- 
ward engaged  to  be  married  to  the  Major's  third 
daughter,  Harriet  Douglas,  who,  however,  died  at 
eighteen  years  of  a^e.  Besides  law  practice,  not 
large,  the  Major  had  Merino  sheep  and  was  likewise 
engaged  in  several  agricultural  ventures.  These  led 
•eventually  to  the  loss  of  his  property."  Before 
Clarence  was  fourteen,  Major  Sloan  had  disposed  of 
his  Williamstown  home,  and  "  removed  to  Xew  Al- 
bany, Indiana,  where  he  died  in  1839,  aged  35. 
His  wife  was  Miss  Cogswell,  stepdaughter  to  Ebe- 
nezer  Fitch,  first  principal  of  the  free  school  and 
first  president  of  the  college  in  Williamstown."  She 
was  the  kindly  lady  trusted  bv  Chancellor  Walworth 
to  be  as  a  mother  to  his  son  whilst  he  was  at  board- 
ing school.     She  had  five  sisters-in-law. 

"  Tradition  had  it,  that  in  the  muddy  walking  and 
crossing  of  the  springtime  (there  were  no  good  side- 
walks in  those  days  as  at  present)  General  Sloan 
would  send  out  his  hired  man  with  two  long  boards 
for  the  girls  to  walk  on,  laying  down  one  in  front 
while  thev  were  walking  on  the  other  in  the  rear." 


30      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Whether  the  sidewalks  were  any  better  during 
Clarence's  stay  there  we  are  not  told,  hut  they  still 
sell  very  heavy  mountain  rubbers  in  the  Williams- 
town  shoe  store,  which  are  useful  early  and  late  even 
in  midsummer  on  account  of  the  heavy  mountain 
dews  that  soak  all  the  grass  of  the  valley.  Bryant 
describes  its  spring  weather  in  these  lines : 

"  Now   tempests    drench    with   copious    flood, 
Alternate  heat  and  cold  surprise. 
A   frozen   desert   now   it   lies, 
And  now,  a  sea  of  mud." 

It  was  during  the  bitter  wintry  blasts  of  a  holiday 
time  that  Clarence  traveled  in  a  sleigh  with  his  tutor 
down  through  long  reaches  of  the  Hoosac  Valley  to- 
ward his  Albany  home,  and  nearly  perished  wTith 
cold.  He  gave  his  amanuensis  a  graphic  description 
of  it,  full  threescore  years  after  it  occurred.  The 
young  man,  alarmed  at  the  condition  of  his  pupil, 
took  all  the  buffalo  robes,  stripping  them  from  his 
own  knees,  and  rolled  up  the  benumbed  boy  like  an 
Eskimo.  Then  at  the  next  inn  laying  aside  his  tem- 
perance proclivities  through  stress  of  necessity,  he 
gave  his  young  charge  a  larger  dose  of  liquor  than 
he  had  ever  before  swallowed.  He  let  him  sleep  it 
off  in  the  sleigh  till  his  eyes  opened  in  happy  sur- 
prise on  the  skaters  of  the  Hudson.  They  were  the 
same  boys  with  whom  Clarence  had  practiced  swim- 
ming and  diving  the  previous  summer. 

And  now  onr  turn  has  come  to  travel  westward 
from  Williamstown ;  not  in  the  frost  of  winter,  but 
in  the  mellow  harvest  time.  In  our  case  it  is  over 
the  glittering  rails  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  road  that 


College  Days  31 

we  glide  onward,  and  in  a  luxurious  twentieth  cen- 
tury railway  train.  The  Perry  Elm,  that  marks  the 
site  of  Fort  Massachusetts  with  its  thrilling  frontier 
history  of  French  and  Indian  War  times,  is  left  be- 
hind ;  so,  too,  the  patriotic  memories  of  Bennington ; 
and,  the  old  Hoosac  cemetery  where  Benjamin  Wal- 
worth rests  undisturbed  by  shock  of  battle,  harvest- 
time,  or  roar  of  his  mill  by  the  falls.  It  is  more 
than  likely,  as  Professor  Perry  surmises,  that  when 
French  explorers  from  the  north  first  caught  sight  of 
the  letter  T  or  cross  made  by  the  junction  of  the 
Wallomsac  and  Hoosac  rivers,  they  exclaimed  '  La 
Sainte  Croix !  '  And  so  that  name  clings  yet  to  the 
locality.  Travel  speedily  as  we  may,  Greylock,  loom- 
ing up  between  the  Hoosac  and  Berlin  Mountain 
ridges  still  dominates  our  thoughts  as  it  must  needs 
dwell  in  those  of  all  who  look  upon  it.  It  sang 
songs  to  Bryant  till  "  Thanatopsis  '  rolled  majestic- 
ally from  his  pen.  It  beguiled  David  Dudley  Field, 
Jr.,  from  the  law  to  poetry.  His  suggestive  lines 
addressed  to  "  Greylock  "  will  fittingly  close  this  ac- 
count of  the  Williamstown  episode  of  Father  Wal- 
worth's career.  We  may  be  pardoned  for  repeating 
them  here.  They  will  lead  our  thoughts  where  the 
old  Massachusetts  mountain  may  have  led  his,  in 
dreamy  boyhood  days: 

"  Thy  summit,  Greylock,  gives  the  straining  eye 
Visions   of   beauty   o'er   that   glorious   land 
That  lies  around  thee;  Valleys  broad  and  green 
Teeming   with    corn    and    flocks,    and    men's    abodes; 
And  countless  hills;  and  the  far  mountain  ridge, 
Whose  roots   strike    deeper   than   the   ocean's    depth, 


32       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

And   whose   blue   line,   traced   on    the   distant   sky, 

Hangs  like  edges  of  a  watery  cloud : 

The  old  and   shadowy  woods;    the   slumbering  lakes, 

Bright  in  the  summer  noon:  the  thousand  streams, 

Binding  the  earth  with  silver:    villages 

Scattered  among  the   hills:    and   frequent   spires, 

Greeting  the  sunlight. 

But  thyself,   vast   pile 

Of  congregated  mountains,   whose   tall   peaks 

Where    the    clouds    gather    and    the    eagles    build, 

And  the   strange  pine   puts   forth,   stand  ever   there, 

Like  the  old  pillars  of  the  firmament, 

Thvself   hast   more   than    beautv:    and    thv   dark 

And  yet   untrod  defiles,   whence  comes  no   sound, 

But  from  the  screaming  bird  and  murmuring  tree, 

And    thy    deep    chasms,    where    falls    the    avalanche, 

And   the   white   torrents   pour,    have    an    intense 

And  dread  sublimity,  too  great  for  words. 

For,  ever  since  the  world  began,  thy  eye, 

Grey-headed  mount,    hath    been   upon    these    hills. 

Piercing  the  sky,  with  all  thy  sea  of  woods 

Swelling  around  thee,  evermore,   thou  art, 

Unto  our  weaker,  earthly  sense,  the  type 

Of  the  Eternal,  changeless  and  alone.'' 


III. 

COLLEGE  DAYS  AT  "  OLD  UNION." 

Dr.  Nott  and  His  Stove  —  A  Revivalist  —  Letter  to  a 

Classmate. 

When  Clarence  Walworth  was  domesticated  as  a 
student  at  Union  College,  Schenectady,  Byron  had 
become  to  this  far  western  world  the  poet  of  the 
hour.  Deep,  rolling  collars  were  in  vogue,  especially 
if  the  locks  were  curly.  Whole  stanzas  of  Childe 
Harold  were  conned  in  the  intervals  between  college 
pranks  and  more  serious  study.  A  portrait  of  Clar- 
ence the  student,  taken  at  that  time,  indicates  at 
least,  what  a  Buffalo  cousin  asserts,  that  she  had 
never  seen  one  more  beautiful  to  behold  than  he  was 
when  a  young  man.  In  this  portrait  he  wears  a 
Delta  Phi  pin.  Before  leaving  college  he  became, 
also,  an  active  member  of  its  chief  literarv  fra- 
ternity,  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  and  later  greatly  ap- 
preciated the  comradeship  this  last  mentioned  affilia- 
tion gave  him,  as  it  brought  him  in  touch  with  a 
high  type  of  scholars  from  other  universities..  This 
was  especially  so  on  a  horseback  journey  he  took  one 
summer  vacation.  He  traveled  in  this  wav  all 
through  New  England.  His  father  thought  he  had 
bent  too  much  over  his  books  for  the  good  of  his 
eyes  and  physique.  Hence  he  gave  him  a  horse,  and 
told  him  to  keep  on  horseback  during  daylight  hours, 
except  at  meal  times,  for  a  good  three  months.     This 


34      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

he  did.  He  carried  with  kirn  a  single  change  of 
clothing.  He  met  with  many  a  friend  and  relative. 
He  had  no  end  of  adventures,  but  never  a  serious 
mishap. 

Clarence  was  an  enthusiastic  member  of  his  col- 
lege glee  club.  He  took  his  turn  with  the  rest  sere- 
nading the  ladies,  as  was  a  custom  of  the  time. 

He  could,  as  an  alumnus,  lustily  applaud  these 
words  of  Hon.  T.  C.  Saxton,  LL.  D.  in  1891: 

"  Think  for  a  moment  what  *  Old  Union '  stands 
for  in  the  history  of  the  American  people.  For 
nearly  a  century  she  has  been  a  center  of  sweetness 
and  light  from  which  have  emanated  those  influences 
that  have  made  their  life  larger  and  richer.  In  her 
classrooms  were  planted  the  seed  that  developed  into 
the  best  thought,  ripest  wisdom  and  noblest  action  of 
the  state  and  nation." 

Chancellor  Walworth  was  a  trustee  of  Union  Col- 
lege, and  became  President  of  the  Law  Department 
of  the  same  university  at  Albany.  His  own  law 
course  he  had  mapped  out  for  himself,  prone  on  a 
leather  lounge  in  a  lawyer's  office,  reading  far  into 
the  night.  This  had  not  prevented  Reuben  H.  Wal- 
worth from  receiving  the  honorary  degree  of  doctor 
of  laws  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1835; 
from  Yale  in  1839 ;  and  from  Harvard  in  1848. 
Rev.  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott,  an  alumnus  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity, presided  over  Union  College  during  the  four 
years  that  Clarence  studied  there  and  for  many  years 
after.  His  memory  was  honored  not  long  since  by 
a  centennial  celebration  at  Schenectadv.  It  com- 
memorated  his  installation  as  president  of  the  college 
just  a  hundred  years  before.    It  was  held  on  Septem- 


College  Days  at  "  Old  Ukion."  35 

ber  29,  1904.     A  tablet  was  unveiled  at  that  time 
in  Memorial  Hall,  inscribed  thus : 

kt  This  building  stands  as  a  memorial  of  Eliphalet 
Nott,  President  of  Union  College  from  1804  to 
I860,  one  of  America's  greatest  educators  —  a  man 
of  geuius,  of  persuasive  eloquence  and  of  rare  per- 
sonal power." 

Dr.  Nott's  greatest  sermon  was  the  one  inspired 
by  the  tragic  death  of  Alexander  Hamilton.  It  was 
delivered  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  at  Al- 
bany. His  words  on  that  occasion  crystallized  into 
effectiveness  the  growing  sentiment  against  duelling. 
He  built  up  Union  till,  in  1825,  its  roll  was  longer 
than  that  of  either  Harvard  or  Yale.  In  1838  Clar- 
ence Walworth  graduated  in  a  class  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty-six  men.  An  anthracite  coal  stove  was  one  of 
the  many  inventions  patented  under  Dr.  Nott's 
name.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  he  was  a  practical 
as  well  as  a  scholarly  man.  It  was  said  of  him  by 
Hon.  J.  S.  Landon  at  the  centennial :  "  He  filled 
his  mind  with  wisdom  rather  than  learning  and 
wrought  out  in  his  own  brain  more  than  the  text- 
books could  teach.  *  *  *  He  read  the  character 
of  his  boys  as  if  it  were  an  open  book.  He 
ruled  them  by  distilling  the  sense  of  honor  and 
duty."  In  these  words  there  is  certainly  a  great 
tribute  to  him  as  an  educator.  After  formal  speeches 
of  the  celebration,  a  lunch  was  served  in  the  State 
Armory,  hospitably  prepared  under  the  direction  of 
Miss  Mary  Backus,  assisted  by  thirty  Schenectady 
ladies.  This  was  followed  by  a  feast  of  humorous 
reminiscences,  college  songs  and  class  and  Union 
yells.     The  SchenecAady  Gazette  of  September  30, 


36      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

1904,  records  the  following  allusion  to  old  time  col- 
lege pranks,  similar  in  kind  to  those  of  Union  boys 
who  grew  to  be  "  seventy-years  young '  about  the 
same  time  as  Oliver  Wendell  Homes: 

"  H.  B.  Silliman,  746,  the  donor  of  Silliman  Hall, 
was  the  first  alumnus  called  upon  to  speak.  In  the 
course  of  his  talk,  he  referred  to  the  i  aesthetic 
value  of  the  Xott  stove;"  and  told  a  humorous  in- 
cident of  the  days  when  part  of  the  students  roomed 
in  West  College,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Union 
School  building.  He  remembered  how  the  sight  of 
one  of  these  stoves  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  and  all 
ready  to  be  hurled  upon  their  heads  caused  a  bunch 
of  i  townies,'  who  had  been  engaged  in  a  fight  with 
the  students  and  had  chased  them  to  the  college  build- 
ing, to  be  c  converted,'  in  the  original  meaning  of  the 
word,  to  turn  around  and  depart  unceremoniously." 
This  well-told  incident  let  loose  a  quick  succession  of 
jocose  recollections  of  old  time  encounters.  Some  of 
the  exuberant  vitality  that  formerly  expended  itself 
in  the  above  manner,  finds  a  twentieth  century  vent 
in  football  and  gymnasium  practice,  followed  by  vo- 
ciferous intercollegiate  contests.  Swift  means  of 
travel  tend  to  annihilate  distance  as  a  barrier.  Get- 
ting together  from  different  colleges,  in  other  days, 
meant  horseback  journeys,  canal  boat  speed,  frozen 
ears  and  danger  from  drifts  on  long  sleigh  rides. 
Hence,  more  fun  and  mischief  with  "townies ;" 
abundant  opportunity  for  muscular  contests  with  all 
grades  of  the  local  community;  and  perhaps  in  con- 
sequence, some  deeper  realization  of  the  meaning  of 
a  Scottish  poet  whose  volume  was  a  frequent  fireside 
companion    of    Clarence    Walworth.      The   song   of 


College  Days  at  "  Old  Union."  37 

Honest  Poverty  therein  chimed  harmoniously  with 
ideas  of  republican  simplicity  very  dear  to  American 
hearts : 

"  What  tho'  on  namely  fare  we  dine, 

Wear  hodden  gray,  and  a'  that; 
Gie  fools  their  silk,  and  knaves  their  wine, 

A  man's  a  man  for  a'  that. 
For  a'  that  and  a'  that, 

Their  tinsel  show  and  a'  that; 
The  honest  man  though  e'er  sae  poor, 

Is  king  o'  men,  for  a'  that." 

May  we  never  forget  these  words  of  Burns,  but  con 
them  more  and  more,  as  tidal  waves  of  European 
class  distinction  hitherto  unfelt  come  rolling  over 
the  golden  sands  of  our  law-abiding  democracy.  How 
fast  these  uncanny  waves  chase  each  other  westward 
following  in  its  course  "  the  star  of  empire !  "  The 
above  verses  were  branded  early  into  his  soul  to- 
gether with  the  words  of  his  family  motto:  "Strike 
for  the  Laics/'  and,  thus  combined,  they  proved  char- 
acter builders  for  Father  Walworth.  It  can  easily 
be  imagined  what  great  interest  was  taken  during  his 
college  days  in  the  newly  constructed  railway  for 
steam  cars ;  especially  when  it  is  remembered  that 
the  one  from  Albany  to  Schenectady  was  the  first 
ever  built,  and  for  a  long  time  the  only  one  in  the 
whole  world.  It  ran  on  a  level  over  the  sand  flats 
from  the  State  Capitol  till  it  came  to  the  dip  down 
into  the  Mohawk  Valley  to  reach  Schenectady.  It 
was  not  thought  possible  then  for  passenger  cars  to 
move  safely  by  steam  up  and  down  hill.  So  a  long 
inclined   plane  was   constructed   and  the  cars  were 


38      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

drawn  up  and  let  down  by  a  system  of  ropes  or 
cables,  in  a  clumsy,  but  novel  and  wonderful  way. 

Some  facts  in  regard  to  the  purchasing  power  of 
"  money  "  in  those  days  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  reminiscence  furnished  to  the  Schenectady 
Gazette  of  September  29,  1904-,  by  a  venerable  alum- 
nus of  1832,  Judge  John  L.  Kanouse  of  Boonton, 
Morris  Co.,  X.  J.  His  words  there  given  are  as 
follows : 

"  I  remember  what  the  expense  of  college  educa- 
tion at  Union  was  in  the  years  1830,  1831  and  1832. 
The  cost  of  board  was  $1.25  at  the  north  boarding 
hall  and  $1.50  at  the  south  boarding  hall  per  week. 
The  greatest  expense  was  for  tuition,  $18.50  per 
term,  and  for  repairs  and  damages  62%  cents  per 
term;  the  whole  amount  for  tuition  was  therefore 
$57.87%.  The  living  at  the  boarding  halls  was  en- 
tirely satisfactory.  *.  Gold  mines  had  not 
been  discovered  vet." 

Among  Father  Walworth's  papers  is  a  pamphlet, 
with  marks  in  his  own  handwriting,  being  a  Report 
rendered  by  President  Eliphalet  Xott  Potter  in 
1882,  to  the  Governor  of  JSTew  York  State,  the  Trus- 
tees and  others  interested  in  Union  College.  It  shows 
that  he  read  it  carefullv  over,  and  when  he  came  to 
the  word  "  evangelical,"  in  the  following  sentence, 
he  underscored   it : 

"  Union  College  is  Christian,  and  its  religious  po- 
sition is  that  of  the  evangelical  catholicity  of  our 
Divine  Master's  prayer  for  unity." 

Again,  he  marked  these  sentences  of  President 
Potter,  underscoring  where  italics  are  here  used : 

"  The  Revolutionary  struggles  in  which  our  an- 


College  Days  at  "  Old  Union."  39 

cestors  proved  their  devotion  to  civil  liberty  revived 
their  love  of  religious  liberty.  The  descendants  of 
the  defenders  of  Ley  den,  of  the  heroes  of  Scotch 
Protestantism,  of  the  martyrs  of  the  English  Refor- 
mation, as  well  as  the  men  of  honored  Puritan  an- 
cestry, felt  then  for  a  time  the  glow  of  a  kindred 
enthusiasm.  Some  have  held  that  these  who  laid  in 
Christian  faith  and  for  Christian  unity,  the  founda- 
tions of  this  the  first  College  incorporated  by  the 
Regents,  '  builded  better  than  they  knew/ 

Here,  the  venerable  alumnus  who  had  long  since 
became  a  Catholic  priest  has  added  a  marginal  note 
of  his  own,  which  says,  spicily :  "  It  is  only  on  this 
theory  that  Catholics  can  feel  at  home  in  Union 
College."  Later,  when  asked  to  give  the  benediction 
on  Commencement  Day,  he  made  the  largest  sign  of 
the  Cross  his  long  arm  could  form  over  the  assembled 
throng.  The  names  of  his  fellow-graduates  whom  he 
had  occasion  to  mention  most  frequently  in  later 
years  were  these:  Daniel  W.  Alvord,  William 
Henry  Burr,  John  H.  Beach,  and  last,  but  not  least, 
Charles  W.  Torrey.  Three  of  these  were  lawyers. 
Alvord  named  a  son  for  him ;  with  Burr  he  had  a 
controversy;  Beach  was  a  Saratoga  boy,  who  shared 
with  him  many  youthful  pleasures  such  as  fishing, 
swimming  and  skating  at  Loughberry  Lake,  at  Bar- 
hydts'  (now  Spencer  Trask's)  and  at  "  Ben  Put's 
Pond."  (Thus  did  they  briefly  dub  the  lakelet  be- 
longing to  a  relative  of  General  Israel  Putnam, 
known  later  as  Denton's  Vlie,  and  included  within 
the  bounds  of  Hilton's  Park.)  The  classmate  of 
whom  he  spoke  with  most  affection  was  Charles  Tor- 
rev,  who  became  a  clergyman  and  moved  to  Ohio. 


40      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

The  controversy  with  Burr  was  carried  on  in  the 
pages  of  an  infidel  journal,  The  Investigator; 
and  was  published  later  in  a  small  volume,  entitled 
"The  Doctrine  of  Hell,"  issue  in  1873,  but 
now  out  of  print.  It  was  a  lively  journalistic  debate, 
that  went  on  to  a  courteous  finish  after  an  exchange 
of  some  heavy  artillery  shots,  neither  one  having  con- 
vinced the  other  by  his  arguments.  Two  of  its  open- 
ing letters  are  so  pertinent  to  this  chapter  that  it 
seems  suitable  to  reproduce  them  here  as  its  con- 
clusion : 

William  Henry  Burr,  Esq. —  To  the   Rev.   Clarence  A.   Wal- 
worth. 

Dear  Sib  —  Seeing  your  letter  in  the  Boston  Investigator 
of  March  27,  declaring  your  acceptance  of  the  recent  papal 
dogma  of  the  Infallibility,  I  am  prompted  to  address  you  a 
brief  enquiry. 

You  and  I  were  members  of  the  same  class  at  College. 
Just  before  graduating,  we  were  both  "  converted  "  under  the 
revivalist  Elder  Jacob  Knapp.  That  we  were  both  "  soundly 
converted "  I  presume  you  do  not  doubt  any  more  than  I. 
Elder  Knapp  was  fond  of  referring  to  yours  as  a  remarkable 
conversion.  But  in  the  course  of  ten  years,  you  had  become 
a  Catholic  and  I  a  Free-thinker.  How  I  now  regard  my  con- 
version under  the  revivalist,  you  can  easily  surmise;  how  you 
regard  yours,  I  cannot.  I  shall,  therefore,  be  pleased  to  re- 
ceive from  you  an  answer  to  the  following  questions: 

Did  you,  at  the  time  of  your  supposed  conversion,  "  get 
religion?"  In  other  words,  Did  you,  at  that  moment,  escape 
the  "wrath  to  come"  and  secure  your  post-mortem  salvation? 
Or  was  it  all  a  delusion?  If  you  did  not  get  religion  then, 
will  you  be  kind  enough  to  tell  me  when  and  how  you  got  it? 

Respectfully, 

WM.  HENRY  BURR. 

Washington,  D.  C.  Mar.  28,  1872. 


College  Days  at  "  Old  Union."  41 

Clarence  A.  Walworth  —  To  Wm.  Henry  Burr,  Esq. 

Dear  Sib  :  —  I  feel  no  hesitation  in  replying  to  the  com- 
munication which  you  have  addressed  to  me  through  the  col- 
umns of  the  Investigator,  and  trust  that  my  answer  may 
prove   satisfactory. 

The  expression  employed  by  you  of  "  getting  religion  "  and 
"  securing  a  post-mortem  salvation  "  are  objectionable  phrases 
and  I  cannot  well  use  them  without  more  explanation  than 
seems  to  be  at  present  desirable.  Setting  them  aside  therefore, 
I  will  endeavor  to  give  a  plain  answer  to  the  substantial 
meaning  of  your  enquiry  as  I  understand  it.  I  do  not  of 
course  propose  to  argue  the  issues  which  lie  between  a 
Catholic's  belief  and  an  infidel's  unbelief.  Your  communica- 
tion evinces  no  further  desire  than  to  institute  a  comparison 
between  our  past  and  present  convictions. 

The  "  conversion  "  you  speak  of,  which  took  place  as  you 
remind  me,  when  we  were  classmates  at  college,  and  listened 
to  the  preaching  of  Elder  Knapp  the  revivalist,  is  to  me  no 
"  delusion."  I  look  back  to  it  with  pleasure,  and  hail  it  as 
a  happy  reality.  That  many  delusions  existed  in  my  mind 
at  that  time  is  certain  enough.  But  equally  certain  am  I 
that  a  real,  substantial,  and  lasting  impression  was  made 
upon  me  which  changed  the  whole  current  of  my  life.  You 
ask  whether  I  "  secured  my  salvation  "  at  that  time.  I  con- 
sider no  man's  salvation  secured  except  by  perseverance  until 
the  end  —  finis  coronat  opus.  The  question  touches  some- 
what upon  those  sacred  privacies  which  do  not  belong  to  the 
public.  This  much,  however,  I  may  say  —  had  death  come 
then,  I  know  of  no  good  reason  why  I  should  not  have  met 
it  with  such  hope  of  mercy  as  becomes  a  Christian  penitent. 

The  ground  which  you  have  broken  makes  it  necessary  to 
speak  of  myself,  but  I  confine  what  I  have  yet  to  say  to  my 
intellectual  life  as  a  believer  in  the  Christian  revelation. 
That  time  which  you  have  recalled  was  the  turning  point  of 
a  life.  Not  that  my  faith  began  then,  but  that  then  I  began 
to  prize  and  cultivate  what  I  had.  Since  then  whatever  else 
you  may  say  of  it,  my  life  has  been  one  of  sincere  and  un- 
wavering belief.  That  revolution  in  my  faith  which  your 
enquiry    searches    for  —  that    revolution    when    I    abandoned 


42       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

the  religious  convictions  of  my  earlier  life  —  never  took  place. 
This  may  seem  strange  to  you,  remembering  that,  having  been 
reared  by  Presbyterians,  I  afterwards  became  an  Episcopalian, 
and  am  now  a  Catholic.  But  I  declare  to  you  that  I  have 
never  abandoned  a  single  point  of  religious  belief  which  I  ever 
had.  (I  say  of  religious  belief,  by  which  I  mean  positive  doc- 
trine, for  a  negative  doctrine  is  not  the  matter  of  belief:  it  is 
merely  protesting  against  some  positive  tenet  of  faith  — 
merely  a  refusal  to  believe.)  I  have  cast  away  many  preju- 
dices of  former  days;  I  have  accepted  many  things  which  I 
once  did  not  believe:  and  thus  the  horizon  of  my  faith  has 
been  enlarged.  This  transition  of  mind  is  never  painful, 
for  it  is  only  following  the  natural  law  of  growth.  But  I 
have  never  yet  felt  the  shock  of  a  lost  faith.  *  *  *  How 
is  it  with  you,  my  old  classmate?  When  Elder  Knapp  knew 
us,  you  had  a  faith,  I  infer;  and  that  faith  probably  covered 
as  much  ground  then  as  mine.  Now  you  say  you  are  a  Free- 
thinker. This  cannot  mean  that  you  are  free  to  think  and 
say  what  you  believe  to  be  true;  for  in  this  sense  I  am  as  free 
in  my  thoughts  as  you.  You  mean,  I  suppose,  that  you  will 
accept  no  external  authority  as  guide  in  matters  of  religion. 
This  freedom  would  be  embarrassing  in  every  other  science, 
and  lead  to  ignorant  presumption.  May  it  not  be  the  same 
in  that  deepest  of  all  sciences  which  looks  further  than  sight 
and  sound  can  reach?  Practically,  I  take  it,  you  reject  the 
whole  Christian  faith  and  all  revealed  religion.  The  result 
of  your  thinking  in  this  direction  has  not  been  to  build  up 
anything,  but  to  destroy.     I  pity  you. 

It  may  sometimes  be  a  necessity  to  tear  down  and  destroy. 
But  to  me  it  is  always  a  sad  thing.  I  would  rather  plant  a 
new  tree  than  uproot  an  old  one.  It  is  a  mournful  thing  to 
see  lying  prostrate  on  the  ground  a  noble  trunk  which  many 
busy  hands  in  nature,  working  long  and  patiently,  have  con- 
spired to  uprear,  which  has  braved  so  many  winters,  bloomed 
so  many  summers,  and  sheltered  and  adorned  the  soil  where 
it  grew.  More  keenly  still  we  feel  the  ruin,  when,  the  stump 
being  removed,  we  see  how  deeply  the  roots  were  fastened  in 
the  ground,  how  closely  they  clung  to  it,  and  how  the  bosom 
of  the  earth  was  rent  in  the  parting.      Is   it   not   so  with  a 


College  Days  at  "  Old  Uniox."  43 

religious  conviction  in  the  soul?  Can  an  old  faith,  the  growth 
of   years,    be    uprooted   there   without   causing    pain,    without 

leaving  desolation?     Once  you  believed  in  God  as  a   living, 

loving,  personal  Being,  who  created  you  —  in  no  idle  mood 
to  forget  you  afterwards, '  but —  to  cherish  you  as  a  Father. 
You  believed  that  wondrous  history  of  Bethlehem  and  Cal- 
vary which  shows  us  so  dear  to  God,  and  brings  Him  so  near 
to  us.  These  convictions  had  grown  up  with  the  growth  of 
your  faculties,  and,  like  a  plantation  of  trees,  had  thrust 
down  their  roots,  and  spread  out  their  branches,  and  become 
a  part  of  your  life.  Can  such  a  growth  be  removed  without 
laceration  of   heart,  without   leaving  behind   it   a  desolation? 

And  what  have  you  now  to  fill  the  void? 

You  reply,  I  suppose,  that  the  work,  however  painful,  was 
necessary;  that  these  things  were  superstitious  errors,  and, 
for  truth's  sake,  ought  to  be  eradicated.  I  have  no  occasion 
to  argue  that  now  and  here;  but  from  my  soul  I  pity  you. 
And  I  congratulate  myself  that  the  love  of  truth  in  me  has 
never  called  for   such  destruction. 

And  in  you,  my  dear  sir,  may  it  not  have  been  a  sad  mis- 
take ?  May  it  not  be  that  some  great  and  holy  truths  of  Reve- 
lation taught  to  you  have  suffered  in  the  teaching,  have  been 
coupled  with  errors,  been  colored  by  prejudice,  been  pressed 
out  of  shape  to  suit  some  harsh,,  false  system  —  aye,  been 
stripped  of  their  flesh  and  blood  by  rash  reformers,  and  thus 
deprived  in  great  part,  of  life  and  beauty?  It  may  be  that 
the  Old  Church,  if  you  would  let  her  tell  her  own  story  in 
her  own  way,  and  have  the  patience  to  hear  her  through, 
would  yet  find  sparks  enough,  amid  the  ashes  of  your  early 
faith,  to  kindle  a  new  fire  and  substitute  light  for  darkness 
and  desolation.     I  subscribe  myself  with  much  interest. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

CLARENCE  A.  WALWORTH. 


IV. 
LAW  OR  THEOLOGY? 

An  Up- State  New  Yorker  Starts  for  the  Metropolis. 

Clarence  was  only  eighteen  years  old  when  he 
graduated  from  Union  College  and  the  choice  of  a 
professional  career  lay  before  him. 

The  correspondence  with  his  classmate,  William 
Henry  Burr,  shows  how  far  the  paths  of  the  two 
eventually  diverged  in  religious  matters.  The  same 
thing  in  an  aggravated  form  is  doubtless  going  on 
yet.  Some  student  can  be  pointed  out  at  Williams 
or  Union  or  Harvard  who  has  already,  even  in  his 
teens,  thrust  aside,  as  a  worn-out  theme,  the  idea  that 
man  possesses  any  actual  revelation  of  God's  truth ; 
one  who  turns  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  vouth  to 
explore  the  wonders  of  modern  scientific  discoveries, 
swallowing  whole  alon»-  with  them  the  half-baked 
cosmic  theories  of  his  favorite  physical  science  hero. 

Alongside  of  him  sits  a  student  from  some  dif- 
ferent  early  environment,  whose  whole  heart  is  al- 
ready gathered  up  into  one  purpose,  to  equip  him- 
self by  every  means  in  his  power,  to  adorn  himself 
with  all  he  can  get  of  the  new  learning,  for  the 
great  battle  of  human  intellects  which  is  still  going 
on.  Michael,  leading  his  angels,  strikes  in  on  one 
side ;  and  on  the  other  the  powers  of  darkness  are 
marshalled,  as  of  old,  by  Satan.  Quis  ut  Deus? 
"  Who  is  like  unto  God  ? "  will  still  be  the  motto  of 


Law  or  Theology?  45 

the  earnest  Christian  youth,  deep  carven  in  his  heart 
of  hearts,  as  he  stands  by  his  laboratory  table,  all 
newly  equipped  by  some  loyal  millionaire  alumnus ; 
and,  again,  whilst  he  takes  notes  from  a  professor 
whose  whole  line  of  argument  is  chosen  to  throw  dis- 
credit on  the  divine  faith  that  has  hitherto  thrilled 
him  with  its  satisfying  beauty.  Will  this  young 
man's  Credo  continue  to  leap  from  his  soul  till,  with 
countless  satellites  about  him,  he  shall  shine  as  do 
"  those  who  instruct  many  unto  justice,"  like  a 
star  in  the  firmament  ?  God  only  knows.  One  thing- 
is  sure.  When  the  pet  hypothesis  of  his  unbelieving- 
Professor  is  as  old-fashioned  in  terms  as  Elder 
Knapp's  special  theological  phraseology  he  will  have 
scant  gratitude  from  students  to  whom  he  has 
pointed  out  many  of  nature's  newer  lessons  with 
never  a  good  word  for  her  old  ones.  These  were 
familiar  long  since  to  the  friends  of  melancholy 
Jaques ;  and,  at  every  turn  meet  eyes  not  pinned  to 
microscopes,  not  overspectacled  by  a  material  civili- 
zation into  forgetfulness  of  humanity's  best  hope. 
Under  the  open  sky  such  hope  buds  brightest,  and 
there  is  ever  finds  "books  in  the  running  brooks," 
and  "good  in  everything."  Shakespeare  in  these 
words  but  echoes  old  Genesis,  where  it  says,  "  God 
saw  all  the  things  that  he  had  made,  and  they  were 
very  good." 

Alas,  that  man  should  still  mar  the  beautiful  order 
of  the  universe  by  becoming  "  more  wise  than  it  be- 
hooveth  to  be  wise,"  and  thus  lose  his  Eden! 

In  the  gymnasium  of  Columbia  University,  at  the 
celebration  of  its  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  birthday 
as    a    seat    of    learning,    an    Episcopalian    Bishop, 


46      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Rt  Rev.  William  C.  Doane,  of  Albany,  the  same 
who  addressed  the  citizens  gathered  to  honor  Father 
Walworth's  memory  six  months  after  his  death,  is  re- 
ported in  the  Argus  of  October  31,  1904,  to  have 
spoken  thus: 

li  I  wish  that  the  men  and  women  to  whom  the 
education  of  children  and  young  people  is  entrusted 
r-ould  realize  the  essential  necessity  of  personal  ex- 
ample and  personal  influence,  the  duty  of  construc- 
tive and  not  of  destructive  teaching  about  God  and 
life  and  eternity,  the  wrong  of  offering  to  the  un- 
trained spiritual  functions  of  children  the  undigested 
masses  of  their  own  crude  and  raw  notions  and  imag- 
inings. And  I  recognize  with  thankfulness  the 
spirit  which  pervaded  the  first  prospectus  of  the 
founder  of  King's  College,  who  was  the  father  of  the 
first  president  of  Columbia.  '  The  chief  thing  that 
we  may  do  in  this  college  is  to  teach  and  engage  the 
children  to  know  God  in  Jesus  Christ  and  to  love 
and  serve  him  in  all  sobriety.' 

A  trumpet  call  this, —  though  given  at  the  elev- 
enth hour, —  to  return  to  the  educational  principles 
of  George  Washington  and  the  early  patriots  of 
America,  which  have  never  been  departed  from  by 
the  "  Old  Church,"  to  which  Father  WTalworth  gave 
the  allegiance  of  his  whole  mature  manhood! 

Since  the  Regents  from  whom  he  received  his  de- 
cree of  LL.  D.  are  so  closely  identified  with  the 
early  history  of  "  Columbia,"  it  seems  not  amiss  here 
to  quote  again  from  the  same  journal  that  recorded 
Bishop  Doane's  words  already  given.  Let  it  tell 
us  more  of  the  concourse  he  addressed: 


Law  or  Theology?  47 

Columbia's  Big  Celebration. 

Its  Climax  Centered  in  the 

University    Convocation. 
Exercises  in  Commemoration 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fif- 
tieth  Anniversary 
of  King's  College. 

New  York,  Oct.  31. —  Two  thousand  alumni  were  present  to- 
day at  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  found- 
ing of  old  King's  College,  now  Columbia  University.  All  the 
fraternity  buildings  were  gaily  decorated  with  the  college 
and  national  colors. 

The  forenoon  exercises  consisted  of  the  laying  of  the  corner 
stones  of  Livingston  Hall,  Hartley  Hall,  the  School  of  Mines 
and  of  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  and  the  dedication  of  the  Physical 
Training  Building,  Teachers'  College. 

The  climax  in  to-day's  celebration  centred  in  the  university 
convocation,  in  the  afternoon.  Twenty- three  honorary  de- 
grees of  doctor  of  laws  and  ten  honorary  degrees  of  doctor  of 
science  were  conferred  upon  prominent  alumni  of  the  univer- 
sity. Unique  in  this  ceremony  was  the  fact  that  none  other 
than  Columbia  graduates  participated  or  officiated  in  the 
exercises. 

At  3  o'clock  the  academic  procession  was  marshalled  at  the 
library  and  wended  its  way  across  the  quadrangle  to  the 
gymnasium,  where  the  members  occupied  the  honor  seats. 
Those  in  the  procession  wore  black  gowns  and  mortar-boards, 
with  the  exception  of  holders  of  honorary  degrees,  who  wore 
hoods  signifying  their  rank.  Many  of  the  hoods  denoted  hon- 
orary degrees  from  European  universities.  Members  of  Barn- 
ard College  faculty,  also  in  cap  and  gown,  marched  in  the 
procession.  The  exercises  began  at  3:30  o'clock.  Besides 
many  invited  guests  the  entire  student  body  of  the  university 
and  Barnard  College  was  present.  The  oration  in  commemora- 
tion of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversity  of  the  founda- 
tion of  King's  College,  the  sesqui-centennial,  was  delivered  by 
President  Butler. 


48      Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Walworth. 

After  the  honorary  degrees  had  been  conferred,  President 
Butler  announced  that  the  trustees  had  established  eleven 
memorial  professorships  in  the  university  on  the  occasion  of 
the  celebration  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary. 

With  such  wealth  of  educational  opportunities 
now  at  hand  it  is  hard  to  realize  how  few  and  far 
between  were  the  law  schools  when  Clarence  A. 
Walworth  began  his  study  of  law  in  the  autumn  suc- 
ceeding his  graduation  at  Union  College.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  his  father's  family  had  again 
become  residents  of  Saratoga  Springs,  occupying 
the  homestead  there  throughout  the  year.  As  a  law 
student  he  resided  at  Canandaigua  and  afterward 
at  Albany.  Whilst  at  the  former  place  he  was  in 
the  office  of  Hubbel  &  Howell.  At  the  latter  he 
boarded  with  Mr.  Werner  and  other  young  students 
in  a  Chapel  street  house.  By  a  strange  coincidence 
it  was  directly  opposite  the  front  door  of  a  residence 
that  became  later  the  rectory  of  St.  Mary's  Church, 
in  which  he  dwelt  over  thirty  years,  and  from  which 
he  passed  through  the  portals  of  death  to  his  eternal 
reward.  That  old  boarding-house  was  next  door  to 
the  corner  of  Steuben  street,  and  was  demolished 
about  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  to 
make  room  for  the  rear  extension  of  the  u  D.  &  H." 
R.  R.  Company's  offices.  He  hurried  back  and 
forth  from  his  meals  there  to  the  office  of  Stevens  & 
Cagger,  where  his  education  in  the  theory  and  prac- 
tice of  law  went  hand  in  hand.  The  Albany  Law 
School  had  yet  no  existence,  and  his  Blaekstone  was 
dropped  at  intervals  for  office  duty.  On  Sundays 
he  attended  church  at  St.  Paul's,  where  in  1839  he 
received  confirmation  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Onder- 


CLARENCE    WALWORTH,    STUDENT. 


Law  or  Theology  ?  49 

clonk.  Dr.  Kip,  afterward  Bishop  of  California, 
was  then  reetor  of  the  church.  Clarence  Walworth 
hecame  a  singer  in  his  choir  and  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  school.  It  was  merely  an  accidental  cir- 
cumstance that  had  first  led  him  to  an  Episcopal 
church.  At  Canandaigua  he  had  but  to  cross  the 
street  to  enter  one,  whose  organist  was  a  fellow 
lodger.  With  him  he  soon  began  to  attend  service 
there  and,  being  fond  of  vocal  music,  joined  its 
choir. 

Clarence  received  his  license  to  practice  as  an  at- 
torney in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  Xew 
York  from  Chief  Justice  Samuel  Nelson  Julv  16, 
1841,  as  the  original  parchment  testifies.  He  was 
admitted  as  a  solicitor  and  counselor  in  the  Court 
of  Chancery  and  licensed  to  practice  as  such  by  his 
father,  Chancellor  Eeuben  Hyde  Walworth,  on  July 
21,  1841. 

After  this  he  was  at  Saratoga  for  a  time,  enjoying 
the  companionship  of  his  relatives,  entertaining  a 
college  friend  there  now  and  again,  and  obtaining 
some  practice  of  his  profession  in  his  father's  court- 
room, then  in  the  north  wing  of  the  old  home.  It 
was  approached  by  three  little  steps  from  the  front 
hall,  just  inside  the  main  entrance.  In  cool  weather 
sparks  of  a  roaring  wood  fire  danced  over  the  and- 
irons, and  snapped  against  the  brass-topped  fender. 
Every  inch  of  wall  space  was  lined  with  leather- 
bound  volumes,  whose  tops  were  protected  from  dust 
and  ashes  by  long,  narrow  strips  of  green  baize.  A 
desk  for  the  chancellor  had  its  water  pitcher  and 
tumbler  on  top  as  inevitably  as  the  fireplace  had  its 
poker,  handy  for  his  instantaneous  use.    A  long  table 


50      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

on  which  the  lawyers  could  spread  their  papers 
and  some  strong,  quaint  chairs  with  a  swinging 
writing-hoard  attached  completed  the  simple  equip- 
ment of  this  rural  court-room.  But  many  a  famous 
man,  from  Daniel  Webster  down,  had  his  say  there, 
and  vast  were  the  interests  involved  in  its  disputes. 

One  day  the  large-eyed,  merry-faced  young  lawyer 
who  darted  in  and  out,  with  no  deeper  thoughts  just 
then  than  to  hurry  through  with  the  business  in  hand 
and  get  off  on  a  sleigh  ride,  or  to  singing  school 
with  the  boys  and  girls  who  were  up  to  fun,  was  ac- 
costed unexpectedly  by  a  magnate  of  the  business 
world  just  as  he  left  his  father's  office.  He  was 
buttonholed  and  reminded  of  a  cause  then  pending; 
that  he,  as  the  chancellor's  son,  would  have  op- 
portunities to  bring  it  to  his  father's  attention  that 
some  other  lawyer  might  not  get;  that  he  hoped  he 
would  do  what  he  could  for  him,  together  with  more 
vague  words  and  shrewd  glances,  at  which  the  rosy 
cheeks  of  the  young  man  grew  redder  and  redder, 
though  his  lips  were  still  sealed  with  amazement. 
All  at  once  the  surprise  was  on  the  other  side,  as  the 
older  man  hastily  drew  back  toward  his  immacu- 
late  shirt-bosom  the  $2,000  lie  was  gradually  edff- 
ing  toward  Clarence's  hand,  with  the  figures  in 
plain  sight. 

"  You  dirtv  do^!  Yon  blackhearted  rascal! 
What   do   you   take   me   for?"   exclaimed   Clarence. 

The  torrent  of  indignant  invective  that  burst  forth 
and  flowed  on  in  unchecked  fury  from  the  young 
man  at  this  outrage  to  his  sense  of  honor  and  the 
respect  due  to  his  father's  judicial  integrity  can  be 
better  imagined  than  described.     The  magnate  beat 


Law  or  Theology?  51 

a  hasty  retreat  from  the  premises,  and  ever  after 
avoided  encounters  with  the  comely  young  orator. 
He  has  long  lain  in  an  unhonored  grave  and  his 
name  is  no  longer  of  consequence.  There  was  no 
third  party  to  witness  the  incident  and  it  might 
never  have  been  told  had  not  the  writer  once  asked 
Father  Walworth,  when  old  and  nearly  blind,  why 
so  much  was  brought  out  in  the  papers  about  brib- 
ery. Why  was  it  allowed  to  go  on  in  the  lobbies 
of  the  Capitol  when  those  who  were  guilty  of  it 
could  be  so  severely  punished  by  law  ?  "  But  they 
have  a  way  of  doing  it  without  coming  under  the 
letter  of  the  law/'  said  he.  His  mind  was  already 
turned  toward  the  recollections  of  youth,  and  he 
sought  for  an  illustration  to  make  clear  his  mean- 
ing.  Thereupon  a  graphic  word-picture  of  this  in- 
cident that  occurred  just  beyond  the  swing  of  his 
father's  door  came  from  his  lips  as  wTe  two  sat  by 
the  drop-light  as  usual  in  his  sitting-room.  I  held 
the  evening  paper  and  he  had  an  ear-tube  in  his 
hand.  His  elbow  rested  on  the  arm  of  his  chair. 
His  eyes  had  lost  some  of  their  swift,  kindling  light. 
A  black  velvet  skull  cap  rested  on  his  snow-white 
locks.  But  the  expressive  lips  curved  again  into 
lines  of  unutterable  scorn  as  the  unpleasant  memory 
dawned  upon  him.  How  he  loathed  the  sort  of  vil- 
lainy that  would  thus  tempt  a  young  man  at  the 
threshold  of  his  career ;  that  could  lie  in  wait  spider- 
like to  trap  him,  in  his  natural  eagerness  for  the 
means  of  enjoyment!  It  is  at  such  moments  in  one's 
life,  surely,  that  the  right  kind  of  training  counts, 
as  well  as  the  guardianship  of  one's  good  angel. 
Almost  daily  for  the  fifty  vears  of  his  priesthood, 


52      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

the  man  who  had  been  thus  approached  found  it  his 
duty  to  utter  these  words  of  Psalm  25,  appointed 
for  the  washing  of  the  fingers  during  the  Holy 
Mass : 

"  In  whose  hands  are  iniquities,  their  right  hand 
is  filled  with  bribes ;  but  as  for  me,  I  have  walked  in 
my  innocence,  redeem  me,  and  be  merciful  unto  me. 
My  foot  hath  stood  in  the  right  way :  In  the  churches 
I  will  bless  thee,  O  Lord." 

He  surely  had  reason  to  understand  the  full  mean- 
ing  of  this  grateful  chant  of  King  David.  He  made 
it  a  custom  for  many  years  of  his  pastorate  in  the 
city  of  Albany  to  devote  the  sermon  of  the  Sunday 
preceding  the  Xovember  elections  to  an  explanation 
of  the  duties  of  citizenship.  The  immorality  of  brib- 
ery received  its  due  share  of  attention ;  warnings 
were  given  suitable  to  the  time ;  and  all,  in  terms 
so  plain  and  clear  and  simple  that  no  political  cam- 
paign worker,  or  newly  naturalized  American  voter, 
or  even  the  most  illiterate  of  his  listeners,  could  sin 
against  his  civic  duty  through  ignorance. 

At  Canandaigua,  his  legal  friends  had  introduced 
him  into  a  delightful  social  circle.  He  seems  to 
have  prospered  in  every  way  at  that  charming  place, 
except  that  he  was  ultimately  overtaken  by  a  sud- 
den illness.  This  illness  proved  an  occasion  for 
inanv  new  and  serious  thoughts.  It  has  alreadv 
been  mentioned  that  he  was  early  initiated  into  the 
duties  of  a  volunteer  fireman.  On  one  occasion  he 
was  exposed  in  such  a  manner  at  a  fire  as  to  be  taken 
down  with  a  violent  cold,  sore  throat  and  fever. 
His  face  was  as  scarlet  as  his  fireman's  shirt.  A 
young    doctor    was   called    in,    who    promptly    pro- 


Law  or  Theology  ?  53 

noimced  it  scarlet  fever,  and  proceeded  to  bleed  him 
and  reduce  him  to  a  state  of  extreme  weakness.  A 
college  friend  who  sought  him  out  became  thor- 
oughly alarmed  at  his  condition,  began  to  have  mis- 
givings as  to  the  treatment,  and  whispered  to  Clar- 
ence that  he  would  like  to  call  in  a  well-known 
physician.  Receiving  an  acquiescent  nod,  he  ar- 
ranged for  a  consultation.  In  his  old  age  the  whilom 
patient  set  a  room  full  of  friends  in  roars  of  laugh- 
ter, detailing  in  his  own  inimitable  way  the  conver- 
sation between  the  wise  old  doctor  and  the  tyro, 
which,  without  offense  to  the  latter,  resulted  in  a 
direct  and  immediate  reversal  of  the  whole  treat- 
ment. The  quick  ears  that  caught  it  and  the  re- 
tentive memory  that  recorded  it  were  no  less  evi- 
denced  in  the  telling  of  the  anecdote  than  a  keen 
and  humorous  appreciation  of  all  the  ins  and  outs 
of  professional  etiquette  as  understood  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine.  He  closed  the  story  with  a  warm 
expression  of  gratitude  to  the  older  doctor,  who  had, 
in  his  own  and  his  comrade's  estimation,  rescued 
him  from  the  brink  of  an  untimely  grave.  Whether 
this  comrade  was  his  beloved  classmate,  Charles 
Torrey,  or  some  other,  he  certainly  served  him  a 
good  turn. 

The  years  following  the  completion  of  his  law 
course  have  been  already  largely  dwelt  upon  in  two 
books  written,  or  rather  dictated  to  his  amanuensis, 
by  Father  Walworth  himself ;  i.  e.,  A  Life  of  Bishop 
Wadhams  and  The  Oxford  Movement  in  America.* 


*  The  title  pace  of  the  first  reads  thus: 

"  Reminiscences  of  Edgar  Y.  Wadhams,  First  Bishop  of  Ogdens- 
burg.  By  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth,  author  of  '  The  Gentle  Skeptic,' 
'  Andiatorocte,    and   other   poems,'    etc. —  With    a    Preface    by    Rt. 


54      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

This  present  series  of  sketches  is  intended  to  sup- 
plement rather  than  to  encroach  upon  the  auto- 
biographical parts  of  both  these  volumes.  Some 
slight  interlapping  of  records  is  necessary  to  pre- 
serve, herein,  a  certain  thread  of  continuity.  This, 
it  is  hoped,  will  be  kindly  pardoned  by  those  already 
familiar  with  the  above-mentioned  works.  Others, 
who  first  make  acquaintance  with  our  subject 
through  the  gateway  of  these  later  planned  pages, 
may  look  upon  the  titles  just  given  as  signboards, 
indicating  pleasant  pathways  that  gently  diverge 
from  our  own. 

On  the  first  page  of  "  The  Oxford  Movement  in 
America  "  are  these  words : 

"  In  the  summer  of  1842  I  was  a  practicing 
lawyer  in  Rochester,  X.  Y.,  being  the  junior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  of  Chapin  &  Walworth.  Our  office 
was  in  a  second  story  front  room  of  the  Smith  block, 
so  called,  in  Main  street,  and  directly  facing  the 
principal  hotel  in  the  city.  We  were  doing  a  good 
business  and  I  liked  my  profession  well  enough. 
About  that  time,  however,  my  mind  had  been  turned 


Rev.  H.  Gabriels,  D.  D.  Bishop  of  Ogdensburg. —  New  York.  Cin- 
cinnati, Chicago:  Benziger  Brothers,  Printers  to  the  Holy  Apos- 
tolic   See. —  1893." 

Any  profits  resulting  from  the  sale  of  this  work  go 
by  the  gift  of  the  author  through  their  bishop  to  the  Catholic 
Indians  of  the  Ogdensburg  diocese.  It  contains  besides  his  own 
memories,  a  very  interesting  correspondence  of  Edgar  Wadhains 
with  a  group  of  Americans  who  became  converts  to  the  Catholic 
Church,  as  well  as  with  their  Episcopalian  friends  who  did  not 
"  go  over  to   Rome  "  on   the  early  waves  of  Tractarianism. 

The  second  book  of  Reminiscences  is  quite  a  distinct  work  from 
the  first.  It  followed  after  it,  however,  in  serial  form  through  the 
pages  of  the  Catholic  World  Magazine  of  the  Paulist  Fathers, 
and  at  their  publishing  house  it  was  stereotyped.  Its  title  pn  cr^ 
reads  thus:  ♦ 

"  The  Oxford  Movement  in  America:  or  Glimpses  of  Life  in 
an  Anglican  Seminary.  By  Rev.  Clarence  A.  Walworth,  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Albany,  N.  Y. —  New  York:  The  Catholic  Book  Exchange. 
120  West  60th  street." 


Law  or  Theology  I  55 

toward  religion  more  steadfastly  than  ever  before. 
I  felt  growing  up  within  me  a  strong  desire  to  de- 
vote myself  entirely  to  the  church.  I  opened  my 
mind  on  this  subject  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Whitehouse, 
then  rector  of  St.  Luke's,  and  afterward  Bishop  of 
Illinois.  I  was  a  member  of  St.  Luke's  choir  and  a 
teacher  in  the  Sunday  school,  and  was  strongly  at- 
tached to  the  rector.  He  encouraged  me  to  follow 
my  inclination,  as  being'  both  rational  and  deeply 
settled,  and  wrote  a  letter  for  me  as  a  candidate  for 
orders  in  his  diocese. 

"  Neither  mv  father  nor  anv  of  mv  friends  made 
any  serious  opposition  to  my  purpose,  and  it  was  car- 
ried into  speedy  execution.  My  father's  personal 
library  of  law  books,  a  large  and  fine  collection,  was 
sent  home  to  him  forthwith,  and  wdien  I  parted  with 
these  very  little  of  law  remained  with  me.  I  my- 
self returned  to  the  family  residence  at  Saratoga 
Springs  to  wait  for  the  opening  of  the  next  term 
of  the  General  Theological  Seminary  in  ATe\v  York 
city." 

During  this  summer  he  went  with  his  father,  at 
the  latter's  request,  to  the  Annual  Convention  of  the 
American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  and  attended 
all  its  sessions.  It  so  happened  that  the  standing 
committee  of  the  board  on  this  occasion  made  a  pub- 
lic report  to  the  meeting  in  which  they  recommended 
the  employment  of  unmarried  men  in  foreign  mis- 
sionary labor,  giving  some  very  practical  and  sensi- 
ble reasons.  This  recommendation  raised  a  storm 
of  opposition  and  was  finally  voted  down.  But  its 
effect  was  not  lost  on  the  mind  of  the  youns:  ffentle- 
man  in  the  assemblage  just  twenty-two  years  of  age, 


56      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

who  had  recently  become  an  Episcopalian.  He 
sided  entirely  with  the  reporting  committee,  and 
reasoned  the  matter  out  further  for  himself.  If 
celibacy  was  practically  necessary  to  the  most  suc- 
cessful missionary  work,  why  not  important  also  to 
all  laborers  in  the  Christian  ministry  ? 

The  opening  of  the  next  fall  term  found  him  in 
the  east  building  of  the  General  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  at  Twen- 
tieth street,  Xew  York.  On  page  five  of  "  The  Ox- 
ford Movement  in  America,"  he  says :  "  The  insti- 
tution to  which  I  was  now  attached  was  of  a  much 
higher  order,  both  in  the  character  of  its  professors 
and  the  scholarly  habits  of  its  students,  than  any 
other  that  I  knew  of."  Bishop  Onderdonk,  of  Xew 
York,  a  very  histfi  churchman  in  favor  of  the  Ox- 
ford  movement,  was  its  president.  His  favorite  lec- 
ture topic  was  Apostolical  Succession.  Dr.  Samuel 
H.  Turner  was  dean  of  the  faculty.  Among  the 
professors  were  Drs.  Wilson,  Ogilby  and  Haight. 
The  Hebrew  language  was  taught  to  Clarence  Wal- 
worth  by  Dr.  Clement  C.  Moore,  the  same  who  wrote 
the  verses  beginning,  "  Twas  the  night  before  Christ- 
mas." His  beautiful  home,  embowered  in  trees, 
was  just  across  the  street  from  the  seminary,  with 
its  happy  household  basking  in  the  sunshine  of  his 
own  genial  nature.  It  was  a  home  with  a  broad  roof 
and  ample  chimneys,  easy  of  access  to  good  old 
Santa   Claus  and  kindred  spirits. 

The  new  student  went  at  the  study  of  the  oldest 
of  written  languages  with  zest.  He  found  it  useful 
more  than  once  in  clearing  up  his  ideas  for  preach- 
ing.    I  remember  preparing  brief  notes  at  his  dicta- 


Law  or  Theology  ?  57 

tion  for  one  of  his  last  sermons  at  St.  Mary's,  Al- 
bany. It  was  not  his  custom  to  take  such  notes  to 
the  pulpit  even  when  his  eyesight  had  permitted  him 
to  read  and  write  for  himself,  but  rather  to  leave  the 
sheet  with  its  large,  clear  headings  under  a  paper 
weight  on  his  table,  to  glance  at  now  and  again  as 
sermon  time  approached.  This  time  his  text  was 
from  Isaias,  through  the  lips  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  re- 
corded in  the  Gospel  to  be  read  on  that  particular 
Sunday  by  order  of  our  good  Mother  the  Church.  I 
had  dug  out  for  him  as  best  I  could  with  my  imper- 
fect Latin  and  halting  French,  Calumet's  comments 
on  it,  in  both  the  Old  and  the  Xew  Testaments.  He 
used  an  editio  prince  ps  of  that  author  in  hventy- 
four  quarto  volumes  with  four  besides  of  the  diction- 
ary of  the  Bible  in  uniform  binding.  "  Is  that  all 
there  is  about  it  ?  "  he  persisted. 

"  Well,  yes,"  said  I,  hesitating. 

"  Look  again,"  said  he. 

"  I  have  read  vou  every  word  I  can  find  that 
seems  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  text,"  I  re- 
plied. "  But  wait ;  here's  a  tiny  number  that  goes 
with  a  brief  foot  note." 

"  Read  it." 

"I  can't." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  It's  Greek." 

"  Spell  it." 

I  put  on  my  thinking  cap  and  drawled  out  the 
unfamiliar  alphabetic  signs.  A  Heidelburgh  alum- 
nus had  taken  me  through  a  first  Greek  book  to- 
gether with  a  brother  of  mine  who  was  preparing 
for  college.     He  then  suddenly  dropped  off  tutoring 


58       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

to  set  up  an  academy  for  boys,  which  cut  short  my 
course,  never  to  be  resumed.  Just  then,  I  thanked 
him  mentally  for  coming  over  to  America  with  the 
good  taste  to  select  my  native  village  as  a  starting 
point  in  which  to  try  his  fortunes.  My  uncle's 
face  brightened  with  delight,  as  he  caught  and 
uttered  syllable  after  syllable,  till  the  words  rolled 
glibly  from  his  tongue. 

"  Yes ;  yes ;  I  knew  there  was  another  interpre- 
tation. If  I  could  think  of  the  Hebrew  word  I 
want  —  I  would  have  the  whole  thing." 

"  I  rather  think  it  is  here,"  said  I,  "  in  the  last 
foot  note.  But  I  can't  spell  it,  and  you  can't  see  it. 
It  is  a  short  word  and  has  angles  instead  of  curves. 
It  wouldn't  be  as  pretty  on  a  silk  table  cover  as  the 
Sultan's  monogram."     Here  he  interrupted  me. 

"  You  can  draw  it,  can't  you  \  Take  my  large 
pad  and  make  each  character  three  inches  long  and 
very  black.     Ink  it  heavily." 

I  made  a  facsimile  large  enough  for  a  tavern  sign, 
drew  up  the  window  shade  to  the  top,  gave  him  his 
eyeshade  and  spectacles,  and,  after  a  moment  of 
silent  expectation,  old  Isaias'  word  rang  out  with  a 
vim. 

Xext  dav  I  heard  the  sermon.  It  was  in  the 
clearest,  simplest  English,  with  never  a  hint  of  his 
linguistic  study  of  the  text,  though  luminous  with 
high  and  holy  thought.  In  it  was  radiance  of 
hope  and  majesty  of  warning.  The  people  hung 
upon  his  words,  and  the  poetry  of  Isaias  seemed  to 
have  found  its  way  even  into  the  organ  pipes. 
Xever  were  grander  strains  evoked  therefrom  by 
the  skillful  finders  of  Professor  Oarmody.      He  was 


Law  or  Theology?  59 

always  a  conscientious  musician  of  classic  taste,  and 
most  happy  of  all  in  his  original  accompaniment 
to  our  best  known  Christmas  carol,  "  The  Snow  Lay 
on  the  Ground."  This  organist  seemed  ever  to  catch 
something  of  exhilarating  resonance  from  Father 
Walworth's  preaching.  Attracted  to  St.  Mary's 
Church  in  his  later  life,  rather  by  the  pastor's  per- 
sonalty than  the  salary,  which  was  not  large  for  one 
of  his  attainments,  he  was  certainly  successful  in 
making  its  organ  echo  and  prolong  the  best  inspira- 
tions of  its  great  pulpit  orator. 

The  training  that  Clarence  Walworth  received 
at  the  General  Theological  Seminary  doubtless  had 
its  share  in  rounding  out  his  natural  talent  for  pub- 
lic speaking,  as  well  as  broadening  his  culture.  A 
strong  desire  "  to  be  all  things  to  all  men  that  he 
might  win  all  to  Christ  "  had  carried  him  to  that, 
well-equipped  seat  of  learning,  calling  him  aside 
from  rare  opportunities  at  the  !bar.  Henceforth 
he  would  plead  for  nothing  less  than  human  souls, 
not  only  in  his  own  whispered  prayer  to  the  court 
of  Heaven,  but  at  the  bar  of  man's  reason,  con- 
science and  faith  ;  therefore,  every  winsome  art  that 
could  aid  his  plea  was  most  perseveringly  culti- 
vated. 

Already  he  had  persuaded  his  father  that  no 
earthly  ambition  of  honor,  wealth  or  happiness 
should  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  such  a  call 
as  his.  He  had  reminded  him  of  his  daily  peti- 
tion at  family  prayers  for  the  missionaries  in  pagan 
land*,  and  of  contributions  he  gave  for  that  pur- 
pose. Was  it  not  a  noble  sacrifice  they  made  of 
home  and  country?     And  if  his  own  son  chose  to 


60      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

work  for  God  and  souls  instead  of  for  things  that 
Solomon  calls  ki  vanity,"  he  surely  would  not  deter 
him.  And  thus  he  won  a  generous,  unselfish  eon- 
sent.  Clarence's  mother  was  an  exceedingly  de- 
vout Presbyterian  and  practical  in  self-sacriflee.  I 
have  heard  him  tell  that  she  loved  costlv  furniture. 
Her  husband,  after  a  successful  suit,  gave  her  an 
ample  sum  with  which  to  satisfy  her  taste  to  the  ut- 
most. She  had  seen  just  what  she  wanted.  But 
the  thought  of  a  needy  family  came  in  between  her 
wish  and  its  gratification.  Some  substantial  pieces 
were  purchased  of  a  less  price  than  those  first  chosen, 
and  a  large  part  of  the  gift  was  spent  in  food  and 
clothing  for  the  poor. 

When  Clarence  exchanged  law  for  theology  the 
weight  of  her  influence  went  readilv  to  his  side  of 
the  question  on  general  principles,  though  misgivings 
of  high  churchmen  and  papists  came  in  later.  The 
chancellor,  good  American  husband  and  father  that 
he  Avas,  gainsaid  them  not  but  supplied  by  his  own 
unremitting  labors  the  means  which  paid  Clarence's 
way  through  the  seminary.  However  disappointed 
in  his  ambition  that  his  oldest  son  should  follow  in 
his  own  footsteps,  he  kept  his  feelings  to  himself.  It 
had  not  been  lone;  since  in  his  thoughtful  care  for 
his  family  he  had  provided  the  wherewithal  to 
supply  things  needful  for  the  weddings  of  his  three 
daughters,  ami  their  suitable  equipment  for  married 
life.  Besides  this  expense  hi-  young  son  Mansfield 
was  just  preparing  to  enter  college.  In  yielding  as 
he  did  to  Clarence's  wishes  at  this  time,  Chancellor 
Walworth  certainly  showed  a  real  spirit  of  gener- 
osity   and    self-sacrifice.     His    daughter   Mary   had 


Law  or  Theology?  6i 

married  Mr.  Edgar  Jenkins.  They  were  dwelling  in 
Xew  York  city  with  their  young  children.  Among 
them  was  James  Graham  Jenkins,  who  was  destined 
to  win  laurels  for  himself  as  a  citizen  of  Milwaukee, 
and  to  supply  Gresham's  judicial  district  when  the 
latter  entered  President  Cleveland's  cabinet.  The 
youngest  sister  of  Clarence,  and  his  special  playmate 
in  childhood,  was  Eliza,  who  married  Rev.  Jonathan 
Trumbull  Backus  and  resided  in  Schenectady. 
Their  eldest  son,  Rev.  Clarence  Walworth  Backus, 
volunteered  for  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  in  his 
youth,  acting  on  the  staff  of  General  M.  D.  Hardin, 
with  soldierly  zeal,  and  became  later  a  well-known 
Presbvterian  cler^vman  of  Kansas  Citv,  Kan. 
Sarah  Walworth  chose  for  her  life  partner  Mr.  John 
Mason  Davison  of  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.  Just  at 
this  time,  however,  he  was  Register  of  the  Court  of 
Chancery,  and  dwelt  at  Albany,  in  a  house  fronting 
on  Hawk  street  whose  site  is  directly  in  the  center 
of  the  majestic  modern  Capitol  of  the  Empire  State. 
There  Clarence,  as  a  younsj  lawyer,  saw  her  bend 
tenderly  over  the  cradle  of  her  first  born  son,  Mason, 
who  became  later  an  alumnus  of  Williams  College 
and  a  mineralogist,  residing  at  Rochester,  1ST.  Y. 
From  that  same  house  Clarence  led  his  mother  to 
the  Saratoga  train  for  a  last  and  sad  farewell,  but 
of  that  more  hereafter. 

Some  one  has  said  that  it  was  the  library  of  early 
Christian  fathers  of  the  church  to  which  he  had  ac- 
cess at  the  Chelsea  Seminary  which  made  a  Roman 
Catholic  of  Chancellor  Walworth's  oldest  son.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  that  was  simply  one  of  many  causes, 
to  be  dwelt  upon  shortly. 


62       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

His  mental  and  spiritual  faculties,  unconsciously 
to  himself,  were  hourly  unfolding  to  the  light,  like 
petals  of  a  great  water  lily,  little  by  little ;  first  the 
heavy  dark  ones,  then  innumerable  white  ones,  until 
a  time  came  when  he  found  himself  fully  awake  to 
the  broad  da}7light  of  Catholic  truth,  showing  at 
heart  a  golden  wealth  of  faith.  For  a  while,  he  was 
alone,  the  first  one  of  a  group  of  Tractarian  compan- 
ions, who  were  slower  to  greet  the  dawn. 

One  letter  of  his  written  after  he  had  passed  a 
single  winter  at  the  seminary  is  extant.  It  shows 
among  other  things  that  he  received  a  visit  from  his 
mother.  She  in  the  natural  order  of  things,  as  we 
mav  safelv  infer,  had  been  drawn  into  a  little  more 
shopping  while  in  the  metropolis  than  accorded 
with  her  original  calculations.  This  letter  must 
have  convinced  the  father  who  received  it  that  there 
was  little  or  no  likelihood  of  a  recoil,  come  what 
might,  from  his  son's  choice  of  theology  in  place  of 
law.  It  was  addressed  under  seal  in  the  old- 
fashioned  way ;  no  envelope ;  and,  reads  as  follows : 

Clarence,  to  the  "  Hon.  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  Chancellor,  dc, 

Albany." 

"  New  York,  May  4,  1843. 

Dear  Father  —  I  drew  upon  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Xew 
York,  the  other  day,  trusting  to  my  memory  for  the  amount 
I  thought  I  had  remaining  in  deposit,  without  referring  to 
my  bank-book.  Was  agreeably  surprised  to-day  by  receiving 
an  invitation  to  call  and  deposit  $10  —  overdrawn.  I  shall 
be  obliged  for  the  present  to  send  my  regrets.  Mother  when 
here  wanting  some  money,  I  volunteered  what  I  had  left  in 
the   bank,    a    part   of   which   it   appears  was    only   imaginary 


Law  ob  Theology?  63 

treasure.     When  you  left  New  York  you  gave  me  $30  and  a 
draft  for  $70  which  you  supposed  to  be  your  share  in  a  divi- 
dend of  3y2   per  cent,  on  the  stock.     The  president  informed 
me  when  1   presented  it,  that  the  dividend  declared  was  only 
:i  per  cent.,  so  that  I  received  only  $60.     I  believe  I  have  not 
mentioned  this  before,  as  I  should  have  done,  to  prevent  your 
making  any  false  entry.     I  have  $3  in  my  pocket  which  will 
last  me  until  you  come  down,  I  think,  if  you  will  please  en- 
close me  $10  to  square  a/c  with  the  bank.     I  have  endeavored 
to  be  rigidly  economical,  and  have  been  so.     I  regret  exceed- 
ingly that  after  having  done  so  much  for  me  I  am  still  de- 
pendent upon  you,  nor  would   I  be  content  to  remain  so,  if 
my  interests  only  were  in  question,  and  not  those  of  our  com- 
mon Saviour.     But  I  do  not  look  upon  myself  as  having  any 
interests  on  earth  to  advance.     I  am  hired  soul  and  body  to 
the  service  of  Him  from  whom  I  ask  nothing  on  this  side  the 
grave,  but  His  love.     If  in  another  world  He  shall  please  to 
give  me  a  voice  and  a  harp  and  that  "  new  song  "  and  a  place 
near  enough  to  see  Him,  I  am  content.     Do  not  then  consider 
yourself   to   be  discharging  the   obligations   of   a   Father,   but 
as  educating  a  poor  student    (who  happens  to  be  your  grate- 
ful son)   for  the  ministry  of  Christ.    God  grant  that  you  may 
hereafter   hear  His  voice  saying,  "  Come  thou  blessed  of  my 
Father,   inherit  thy  kingdom,  for   I   was   poor   and   sick,  and 
thou   didst   clothe   and   educate   and   minister   unto  me,   enter 
thou   into   the   joy   of  thy  Lord:    for   inasmuch  as  thou  hast 
done  thus  to  the  least  of  my  servants  thou  didst  it  unto  me." 
I  hear  much  said  of  your  ill  health,  but  I  do  not  venture  to 
advise  you  to  labor  less,  as  others  say  you  ought  to  do,  be- 
cause  I   know  that  while  you  sympathize  with  the  poor,  the 
widow  and  the  orphan,  whose  bread  may  depend  upon  your 
decisions,    it   would   be   impertinent   for   me   to    suppose   that 
you  were  ignorant  of  your  duty  to  yourself. 

Your  affectionate   son, 

C.  WALWORTH. 


V. 
LEAD   KINDLY   LIGHT. 

Newman,  Carey,  Wadhams,  and  McMaster  —  Good- 
bye to  Mother  —  Piatt  and  Whitcher  —  Letters  to 
His  Father. 

The  friendship  that  gave  rise  to  Father  Wal- 
worth's "  Keminiscences  of  Edgar  P.  Wadhams," 
was  as  strong  as  an  ocean  cable  and  as  sweet  as  it- 
was  true.  It  lasted  half  a  century;  that  is  to  say, 
from  the  time  those  two  distant  cousins  first  met 
as  fellow  students  at  the  Chelsea  Seminary  in  Twen- 
tieth street  till  the  latter  died  at  his  post  as  Bishop 
of  Ogdensburg  in  northern  Kew  York.  It  was  not 
long  after  that  sad  event  that  the  white  haired  sur- 
vivor received  an  unexpected  call  in  his  Albany 
home.  A  yellow  packet  of  letters  was  laid  in  his 
palm,  by  a  reverent  messenger;  one  who  knelt  kiss- 
ing the  hand  held  out  to  receive  them  just  as  if 
the  greeting  were  intended  for  a  king,  a  high-priest 
or  a  saint.  To  the  recipient  they  came  as  voices  of  a 
forgotten  past.  One  by  one  they  were  unfolded  and 
read  to  him,  proving  to  be  his  own  and  his  com- 
rade's letters  of  seminary  day-.  They  were  sent  to 
him  bv  one  of  the  grey  nuns,  Sister  Stanislaus,  she 
who  had  soothed  his  friend's  deathbed  with  the 
deathless  touch  of  Christian  charity.  Three  sets  of 
Reminiscences  resulted  from  the  reading  over  of 
those  old  letters.    It  was  hi*  first  series  that  gave  the 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  65 

life  of  Bishop  Wadhams.  In  its  fourth  chapter,  the 
author  thus  turns  over  the  leaves  of  a  soul  history: 
"Only  converts  who  have  passed  through  the  deep 
waters  in  which  Wadhams  was  now  struggling  know 
how  clouds  of  darkness  gather  about  the  soul  at  times, 
and  make  it  participate  in  some  measure  in  that  deso- 
lation which  caused  the  Lord  Christ  on  His  Cross  to 
cry  out:  e  My  God,  my  God,  whv  hast  Thou  for- 
saken  me  ? '  I  know  of  one  who  once,  in  a  moment 
of  desolation  of  this  kind,  which  came  in  the  middle 
of  the  night,  could  only  find  relief  by  rising  from 
his  bed,  and  on  his  bare  knees  protesting  that,  if  God 
would  only  show  him  what  to  do,  he  would  do  it,  let 
the  cost  be  what  it  might.  i  Surely,'  he  said,  c  God 
cannot  damn  me  while  I  say  this,  and  mean  it.' 
Those  who  have  passed  through  similar  trials  are 
best  able  to  understand  the  deep  meaning  which 
lies  in  those  words  of  Cardinal  Newman,  now  so  fa- 
miliar to  the  public : 

'  Lead,    kindly    light,    amid    the    encircling- 
gloom, 
Lead  thou  me  on.' 

Of  course  in  these  cases,  when  a  young  Churchman 
is  thought  to  be  in  danger  of  going  over  to  Rome, 
friends  are  not  wanting  who  are  ready  to  offer  sym- 
pathy, such  as  it  is,  and  there  are  spiritual  doctors 
among  them  to  prescribe  infallible  remedies.  These 
remedies  generally  consist  in  urging  the  patient  to 
do  precisely  what  his  conscience  will  not  let  him 
do.  They  succeed  in  curing  only  those  whose  con- 
sciences are  not  thoroughly  aroused,  or  who  are  weak 
in   the  knees.      These  various   remedies  are  in  sub- 


66       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walavoeth. 

stance  reducible  to  three  or  four — such,  for  in- 
stance, as:  'Take  advice/  'Take  orders/  '  Take  a 
parish,'  k  Take  a  wife.'  " 

These  words  cover  his  own  case  too  well  to  be 
omitted  here.  In  fact  this  whole  book  throws  light 
on  its  author's  life  and  mental  trend  as  well  as  on 
that  of  his  friend.  But  we  must  be  content  with  a 
few  glimpses  and  summaries  of  Father  Walworth's 
remarkable  seminary  experience,  to  leave  room  in 
this  volume  for  hitherto  unpublished  letters.  One 
such  summary  occurs  in  the  above  quoted  chap- 
ter, just  after  the  text  of  a  certain  letter  of  advice 
received  by  his  friend  Wadhams.  In  it  was  ex- 
pressed the  idea  that  he  would  act  differently  from 
Walworth  who  sought  guidance  "  from  prayer 
alone."  Wadhams  was  advised,  when  troubled  with 
doubts,  to  consult  with  "  respected  brethren  and 
fathers  in  the  church."  This  same  Walworth  then 
adds  his  own  comment,  thus:  (Page  97.) 

"  To  urge  either  Wadhams  or  myself,  or  Mc- 
Master,  McVickar,  Whitcher,  Piatt,  Donnelly,  or 
many  others  who  might  be  named  in  the  same  cate- 
gory, to  take  advice  from  living  '  pillars '  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  was  simply  nonsense.  What  had 
Ave  been  doing  during  our  seminary  course  but  study- 
ing the  very  questions  on  which  we  were  asked  to 
seek  lio-ht  ?  The  necessitv  of  ordination  to  consti- 
tute  a  priest,  the  apostolical  succession,  and  the  va- 
lidity of  Anglican  orders,  the  nature  and  character- 
istic notes  of  a  church,  the  essential  doctrines  and 
sacraments  necessary  to  constitute  and  furnish  the 
true  Christian  Church  —  these  were  the  very  sub- 
jects which  we  had  studied  most  anxiously,  in  class 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  07 

and  on!  of  class,  with  the  aid  of  all  the  eminent 
'  pillars '  which  Anglicanism  could  afford.  The 
longer  we  studied,  and  the  deeper  our  application  to 
these  questions,  the  more  we  felt  the  want  of  founda- 
tion beneath  our  feet ;  and  what  other  foundation 
could  these  wonderful  '  pillars  '  have,  and  why  should 
we  risk  our  salvation  on  their  dictamina?  Among 
Anglican  clergymen  there  were  not  a  few  that  we 
knew  well  and  respected  much  as  gentlemen,  and 
scholars,  and  as  sincere  Christians ;  but  how  could 
they  be  '  pillars  '  of  the  church  to  us,  or  add  anything 
to  our  security?  To  take  advice  of  such  as  they  in 
our  position  did  not  mean  humility  nor  docility,  nor 
that  prudence  which  comes  from  Heaven.  It  meant  to 
dose  our  consciences  with  morphine,  committing  our- 
selves to  men  who  were  already  committed." 

What  was  it  that  had  given  these  young  men  so 
keen  an  interest  in  the  subjects  enumerated  ?  It  was 
undoubtedly  first  awakened  by  the  examination  of 
their  fellow-student,  Arthur  Carey,  by  eight  clergy- 
men on  "  the  thirty-nine  articles  "  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer;  his  masterly  defense  of  the  position 
taken  by  the  Tractarians  at  Oxford ;  his  youth,  boyish 
lovableness,  intense  and  earnest  spirituality;  his  un- 
questioned learning;  the  argumentative  skill  with 
which  he  repulsed  the  onslaughts  of  two  anti-Roman- 
izers,  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon,  to  the  amusement 
of  his  friend,  Dr.  Seabury,  editor  of  The  Church- 
man, and  professor  at  Chelsea.  These  heavy 
weights  of  Protestant  orthodoxv  made  at  him  with 

O  1/ 

all  the  fury  of  a  "  Coeur-de-Lion"  and  he  met  their 
war  of  words  with  clear-cut  thought  and  keen-edged 
arguments   that  were  handled   as   skillfully   as  Sal- 


68       Life  Sketches  or  Father  Walworth. 

adin  handled  his  rapier.  He  won  the  day,  and  was 
passed  on  to  ordination,  as  sound  in  the  faith.  The 
eventful  hour  came  for  the  ceremony  on  a  Sunday 
morning,  July  2,  1843,  at  St.  Stephen's  Church, 
Xew  York.  Clarence  Walworth  and  his  father  were 
there  in  a  pew,  and  among  the  young  men  who  were 
to  be  made  deacons  that  same  dav  was  Edffar 
Wadhams.  Bishop  Onderdonk  presided.  The  cere- 
mony went  on  till  made  the  usual  call  to  show 
cause,  if  any  existed,  why  the  candidate,  or  any  of 
the  candidates,  should  not  be  ordained.  Here,  to 
the  astonishment  of  all,  Dr.  Smith,  of  St.  Peter's, 
in  full  canonicals,  arose  in  the  middle  of  the 
church  and  made  a  protest,  in  solemn  language, 
against  the  ordination  of  Arthur  Carev.  Rev.  Dr. 
Anthon  did  the  same.  They  charged  him  with  be- 
ing unfaithful  to  the  doctrines  of  his  own  church 
and  imbued  with  the  errors  of  Rome.  The  Bishop 
arose,  with  an  indignant  and  majestic  mien,  pre- 
sented to  the  people  his  reasons  for  his  course,  giv- 
ing them  some  facts  about  the  previous  trial,  and 
concluded  his  remarks  as  follows:  "  Therefore,  I 
shall  proceed  to  ordain  all  these  candidates,  notwith- 
standing the  scandalous  interruption  of  these  Rev- 
erend Protesters."  He  then  recommended  them  to 
the  prayers  of  the  congregation,  and  Bishop  Ives 
began  the  reading  of  the  litany.  The  two  who  pro- 
tested took  up  their  hats  and  wralked  down  the 
middle  aisle  to  the  front  door.  All  others  remained 
till  the  ceremonies  were  concluded. 

Clarence  Walworth  wrote  thus  of  the  moment  suc- 
ceeding this  interruption.  "  The  sensation  that  fol- 
lowed was  something  fearful,  though  the  silence  was 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  69 

profound.  My  father,  who  sat  beside  me,  trembled 
from  head  to  foot,  and  turned  to  me  with  a  look  of 
awe  and  wonder  which  I  can  never  forget."  It  is 
not  surprising  that  he  was  bewildered  by  this  strange 
proceeding.  It  was  better  understood  by  Clarence. 
He  himself  had  already  become  a  Tractarian.  Mc- 
Master,  who  studied  with  him  at  Union,  had  made 
him  acquainted  with  the  Summa  of  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  which  lay  open  in  his  seminary  room  and, 
talked  eagerly  of  the  earlv  Church  fathers.  Wad- 
hams  knew  much  of  John  Henry  Newman  and  his 
followers  at  Oxford,  through  his  intimacy  with 
Carey,  who  presided  over  a  debating  society  among 
the  students.  They  all  read  discussions  of  Tract 
No.  90 ;  and  Ward's'  "  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church  " 
found  its  way  to  their  hands.  Carey  and  Walworth 
had  rooms  opening  into  the  same  hall  and  nearly  op- 
posite. The  latter  wrote  thus  of  their  intercourse:* 
"  One  evening,  I  was  sitting  alone  in  my  room 
when  Carey  entered.  I  was  unoccupied.  I  could 
not  read  evenings,  for  my  sight  had  begun  to  fail  — 
a  trouble  which,  dating  from  that  time,  has  followed 
me  with  variations  during  my  whole  life.  Carey 
expressed  his  sympathy  at  the  condition  of  my  sight, 
and  asked  if  I  would  not  like  to  have  him  read  to 
me.  I  accepted  his  offer  eagerly.  He  took  up  a 
copy  of  the  New  Testament  which  lay  upon  my 
table  and  commenced  reading  from  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John,  opening  at  the  fourteenth  chapter  and  reading 
through  to  the  end. 


*  See  "  Oxford  Movement  in  America,"  page  10;  also,  Chapters 
III  and  IV,  for  a  fuller  account  of  this  interesting  disciple  of  New- 
man. This  book  contains  the  second  series  of  Father  Walworth's 
Reminisf-ences.  For  his  third  series,  see  "  Catholic  World  Maga- 
zine," June,  1890,  to  January,  1900,  inclusive. 


70       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

"  I  bad  never  before  tben  appreciated  so  fully  tbe 
solemn  beauty  of  tbe  Holy  Scriptures.  Carey  was 
an  admirable  reader,  keeping  midway  between  a 
tedious  monotony  and  all  extravagance  of  expression. 
His  voice  was  low  and  sweet,  and  bad  a  quietness  /f 
suppressed  feeling  in  its  tones  which  was  mag- 
netic. He  made  no  comments  on  anv thins:  be 
read,  but  let  tbe  sacred  page  tell  its  own  story.  I 
never  read  those  chapters  now,  particularly  the  three 
containing  our  Lord's  discourse  after  tbe  Last  Sup- 
per, but  my  thoughts  go  back  to  that  memorable 
evening,  and  I  see  Carey's  kindly  face  before  me 
and  bis  hair  glowing  like  gold  in  tbe  lamplight. 
His  influence  over  me  was  at  once  established,  and 
I  thank  God  for  it  still."  These  words  were  writ- 
ten in  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
In  another  place  Carey  is  mentioned  as  having  been 
the  Alovsius  of  the  Seminarv.  In  the  autumn  of 
1843,  soon  after  his  ordination  Arthur  Carey  was 
engaged  as  Dr.  Seabury's  assistant  and  was  lodging 
at  101  Charlton  street,  near  the  Church  of  the  Anun- 
ciation.  From  there  he  wrote  a  lone:  letter  to  Wad- 
hams  who  was  in  Essex  county,  whilst  McMaster 
sat  beside  him  reading  snatches  from  the  British 
Critic,  which  gave  them  the  Oxford  news.  "  Carey 
died,"  says  Walworth,  "  at  the  close  of  the  following 
winter  on  his  way  to  Cuba,  and  was  buried  in  the 
ocean.  Wadhams  and  I  were  in  company  when  the 
intelligence  of  his  death  came,  and  we  mourned  for 
him  as  men  mourn  for  a  brother."  He  and  Wad- 
hams  and  Henry  McVickar  were  then  engaged  in  a 
rather  romantic  attempt  to  found  an  Episcopalian 
monasterv  in  the  Adirondacks,  in  imitation  of  the 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  71 

Nashotah  Mission  in  Wisconsin.  It  was  to  be 
called  St.  Mary's.  Waclhams  owned  the  land.  Mc- 
Yiekar  furnished  money  for  books,  snch  as  a  brev- 
iary and  Lives  of  the  Saints,  and  also  for  tools  and 
cooking  utensils,  whilst  Walworth  experimented  as 
cook  and  carpenter.  He  studied  carefully  mean- 
while the  life  of  St.  Bernard,  and  thought  over  what 
he  had  read  in  Moehler's  "  Symbolism,"  which  he 
purchased.  They  were  very  much  in  earnest,  fasting 
severely  through  Lent  according  to  an  original  plan 
of  their  own,  and  taking  upon  themselves  the  nursing 
of  a  smallpox  case  that  frightened  the  villagers  near 
them,  besides  catechising  the  children  in  rural 
chapels.  Walworth's  zeal  in  this  respect  never 
flagged.*  Wadhams  beino;  a  deacon  usually  conducted 
the  services.  He  also  preached  and  baptised  very 
faithfully  throughout  his  Essex  County  Mission. 
But  the  monastery  scheme  was  too  visionary.  Wal- 
worth decided  whilst  there  "  to  cross  over  to  Home." 
He  and  Wadhams  had  visited  Montreal  together,  and 
seen  a  bit  of  Catholic  life  there,  which  was  about  all 
they  knew  of  it,  except  what  they  learned  through 
the  writings  of  John  Henry  Newman,  William 
George  Ward,  and  such  works  of  the  early  Fathers 
as  were  to  be  found  in  the  Seminary  library.  Wal- 
worth  wrote  to  Bishop  DeLancey,  of  western  New 
York,  asking  him  to  take  his  name  off  from  his  list 
of  candidates  for  orders.  This  letter  crossed  on  its  way 
one  from  the  Bishop  directing  Walworth  to  come  to 
him  at  Geneva  for  ordination.     Instead,  he  planned 


*  When  a  student  in  New  York  city,  Walworth  was  super- 
intendent of  an  East  Side  Sunday  School,  which,  being-  at  a  dis- 
tance from  Chelsea,  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  a  long  walk. 


72      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

with  McMaster,  who  just  then  came  up  to  the  Xorth 
Woods  on  a  visit,  to  apply  to  the  Redemptorist 
Fathers  in  Third  street,  New  York,  whom  the  latter 
happened  to  know,  in  order  to  he  admitted  into  the 
Catholic  Church.  Once  possessed  of  their  address 
Walworth  went  on  ahead,  leaving  ]McMaster  to  fol- 
low shortly  after.  The  following  note  wTas  left  on 
Wadhams'  table  as  a  last  farewell.  He  did  not  be- 
come a  Catholic  till  a  year  later.  They  had  parted 
at  the  Ticonderoga  steamboat  landing  as  Wadhams 
was  going  oif  on  a  short  round  of  duty:  and  they 
did  not  meet  again  for  six  long  years : 

Your  Study,  May  5,  1845. 

Dear  Wadhams  —  In  a  few  minutes  I  shall  be  gone  —  and 
oh,  as  I  lean  my  breast  against  your  stand,  how  wildly  some- 
thing beats  within!  It  seems  as  if  I  were  about  to  separate 
from  everything  I  love,  and  my  poor  heart,  faithless  and  un- 
conscientious, wants  to  be  left  behind  among  the  Protestants. 
I  am  not  manly  enough  to  make  a  stout  Catholic;  but  it  is  a 
great  privilege  to  be  a  weak  one.  Well,  do  not  forget  me. 
Indeed  you  cannot  —  you  have  been  such  a  good,  kind,  elder 
brother  to  me,  you  would  not  be  able  if  you  tried  to  forget 
me.  When  hereafter  you  speak  of  me,  speak  freely  of  me  for 
truth's  sake  with  all  my  faults;  but  when  you  think  of  me 
alone,  try  to  forget  all  that  is  bad  for  love's  sake,  and  al- 
though your  imagination  should  in  this  way  create  a  different 
person,  no  matter  so  you  call  it  by  my  name.  We  have  stormy 
times  before  us,  dear  W — ;  but  may  God  grant  us  the  privi- 
lege to  ride  the  storm  together.  Farewell  until  we  meet 
again,  and  when  and  where  shall  that  be? 

"  Lead  Thou  us  on !  " 

C.  W. 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  73 

Rev.  Walter  Elliott,  C.  S.  P.  has  put  this  letter 
from  the  Wadhams  correspondence  into  a  character 
sketch  of  Father  Walworth,  which  appeared  in  the 
Catholic  World,  June,  1901.  He  refers  to  it  as 
"  a  rare  and  beautiful  specimen  of  friendship  at  its 
best,  as  well  as  of  candor  and  humility." 

The  next  letter  to  Wadhams  was  from  Xew  York. 
It  tells  how  Father  Rumpler  was  visited  the  very 
day  of  his  arrival  there,  and  how  he  received  Wal- 
worth into  the  Church,  on  Mav  16th.  The  con- 
vert  writes  thus :  "  The  creed  of  Pius  IV  sounded 
most  musically  in  my  ears,  and  I  took  pleasure  in 
repeating  it  very  slowly  and  distinctly."  He  had 
been  to  confession  the  day  before  and  v7as  soon  after 
admitted  to  his  First  Communion.  He  says  that 
when  his  conversion  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
became  known  at  the  Seminary,  it  was  looked  upon 
"  as  a  thing  of  course,"  and  an  honest  step.  "  Mc- 
Vickar  is  silent,"  he  acids,  "  and  reserved  in  the  ex- 
treme but  very  kind.  I  do  not  know  what  to  infer 
from  this,  but  am  unwilling  to  trouble  him ;  I  have 
made  application  through  Father  Rumpler  to  be  ad- 
mitted as  novice  at  Baltimore,  and  shall  probably 
hear  next  week.  I  have  as  yet  had  no  intercommuni- 
cation with  my  relatives  in  this  matter.  This,  my 
severest  trial,  will  come  on  next  week.  And  now  I 
have  told  you  all  that  relates  to  myself  externally. 
My  inward  joy  and  satisfaction  at  being  in  the  very 
church  of  God  and  communion  of  the  saints  I  cannot 
express."  He  sends  loving  messages  to  a  certain 
Judge  and  his  family  and  speaks  thus  of  B.  B.  J. 
McMaster : 


74      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

"  Well,  what  have  you  and  Mac  been  doing  in 
Essex  county  %  Has  he  been  raising  any  commotion 
in  your  extensive  diocese  ?  If  he  is  with  you  still, 
give  my  warm  love  to  him,  although  that  is  not  very 
necessary,  as  I  shall  most  probably  be  here  when 
he  comes  clown,  and  can  do  it  for  myself.  I  earn- 
estly hope  he  will  be  cautious  in  the  extreme  in  his 
method  of  abjuring  his  Protestant  connections,  for 
his  own  sake  and  that  of  others,  and  especially  of 
the  o'reat  cause.7' 

The  jocose  allusion  to  Wadhams'  "  diocese'  held 
an  unconscious  prophecy.  Essex  county  was  actu- 
ally included  in  the  new  see  of  Ogdensburg,  of  which 
he  became  the  first  bishop  in  1872.  Mr.  MeMaster 
was  destined  later  as  editor  of  the  Freeman  s  Jour- 
nal to  keep  abreast  of  all  the  religious  "  commo- 
tions," of  his  day.  The  "  great  cause '  of  course 
was  the  reunion  of  Christendom  through  the  triumph 
of  the  Oxford  Movement ;  it  was  to  sweep  wave  after 
wave  of  converts  into  the  true  fold  of  Christ,  to  be 
sure,  but  it  could  never  come  up  to  the  hopes  of  its 
most  ardent  American  defenders.  Arthur  Carev  had 
gone  down  to  an  early  grave,  having  borne  the 
shock  of  conflict,  with  his  eyes  turned  time  and 
again  to  the  majestic  personality  of  John  Henry 
Newman.  He  was  ready  "  to  cross  over  to  Rome  ' 
whenever  that  master  intellect  should  give  the  first 
sign,  but  he  waited  for  it  in  vain.  Alas  for  him, 
that  the  dawn  crept  on  so  slowly  in  the  patient 
brain  that  had  cast  forth  Tract  No.  90 !  A  loving 
young  heart  broke  under  the  continued  strain.  But 
yet  in  that  very  breaking  the  soul  of  Clarence  Wal- 
worth  gained  an   impetus  that  carried   it  on  ahead 


HON.     REUBEN     HYDE     WALWORTH..     CHANCELLOR     OF     THE     STATE 

OF     NEW     YORK. 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  75 

even  of  Newman's  own,  into  the  one  true  fold  of  the 
Good  Shepherd.  McMaster  was  almost  abreast  of 
him.  Then  a  host  of  others  came  straggling  in  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  And  still  thev  come! 
But  many  drew  back.  Others  hesitated  a  long  time, 
befoi  3  severing  heart-ties  that  bound  them.  B.  W. 
Whitcher,  whose  letter  is  annexed  to  this  chapter, 
waited  ten  years  before  becoming  a  Catholic.  Rev. 
Charles  Piatt  was  a  first  cousin  to  Walworth  and 
dwelt  at  Rochester.  He  had  gone  through  the  Sem- 
inary with  Wadhams.  Though  his  heart  was  then 
with  them  he  never  did  "  cross  over  to  Rome ;"  when 
he  heard  Clarence  was  going  to  Europe  he  wrote  to 
him  thus:  (Wadhams'  Reminiscences,  Chapter  IV). 

Dear  Cousin  —  I  thank  my  God  that  your  feet  are  at  least 
planted  upon  the  "  Rock  of  Peter."  I  cannot,  however,  close 
with  your  invitation  to  come  to  New  York  and  see  you  embark. 
To  accept  that  invitation  would  mean  that  I  am  ready  to  be- 
come a  Catholic,  and  I  am  not.  I  cannot  break  my  mother's 
heart. 

Another  cousin  of  Walworth's,  a  ladv  of  Buffalo 
and  an  Episcopalian,  has  said  most  earnestly  that 
those  who  knew  him  best  there  and  in  Rochester,  and 
saw  what  sacrifices  he  made  to  become  a  clergyman 
and  a  Catholic,  could  not  but  look  upon  him  as  a 
great  moral  hero.  Everything  was  at  his  command 
that  a  young  man  could  wish  to  make  him  happy 
and  successful  on  God's  earth,  and  for  conscience 
sake  alone,  he  stripped  himself  freely  of  all.  Those 
who  had  not  given  attention  to  the  meaning  of  the 
Oxford  Movement  thought  him  hard-hearted,  crazy, 
foolish  or  needlessly  disheartened  as  the  case  might 
be. 


76       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

He  went  to  Saratoga  to  try  and  console  his  mother 
who  had.  written  requesting  the  visit.  "  She  takes 
my  conversion  very  much  to  heart/'  he  wrote  to 
AYadhams,  "  thinking  me  quite  ruined  hy  becoming 
a  Catholic.  I  shall  return  in  a  very  few  days.  By- 
the-by,  the  priest  at  the  Springs  is  a  Cistercian  or 
Monk  of  St.  Bernard  (only  think,  a  genuine,  live 
Cistercian),  a  very  learned  and  I  think  a  very  good 
man.  When  Bishop  Hughes  traveled  in  Belgium, 
this  monk  became  much  interested  for  this  poor,  in- 
fidelity-ridden countrv,  and  obtained  leave  to  come 
and  help  the  good  cause  on  this  side  of  the  water." 
Clarence  was  decidedly  taken  aback  when  he  took  a 
ramble  in  company  with  this  lire  Cistercian,  and 
stopped  to  call  on  an  old  neighbor,  the  wife  of  a 
Judge,  who  had  always  a  warm  place  in  her  heart 
for  himself.  She  fairly  scowled  on  his  companion, 
saying  pointedly,  "  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you,  Clar- 
ence," and  talked  on,  all  but  turning  her  back  on  the 
priest.  Clarence  soon  bade  her  good-bye,  indignant 
at  this  unexpected  display  of  bad  manners  to  his 
companion.  Long  afterward  he  heard  that  one  of 
her  daughters  unknown  to  him  had  been  reading  the 
Oxford  Tracts,  and  had  "  a  leaning  toward  Borne ;" 
above  all  things,  the  mother  dreaded  lest  she  should 
become  acquainted  with  a  priest. 

He  did  not  stay  a  great  while  at  Saratoga.  He 
reasoned  long  and  earnestly  with  his  dear  mother, 
and  strove  to  remove  some  of  her  prejudices  against 
the  faith  that  was  in  him,  but  could  make  no  per- 
ceptible headway.  She  accompanied  him  as  far  as 
Albany  and  together  they  visited  his  sister,  Mrs. 
Davison,  and  her  young  family,  in  Hawk  street,  be- 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  77 

tween  Washington  avenue  and  State  street-  It  wag 
not  easy  to  say  good-bye  to  this  loving  and  beloved 
circle  and  then  to  lead  his  mother  to  the  Saratoga 
train.  Perhaps  she  hoped  that  at  the  last  moment 
he  would  relent  and  return  with  her  to  his  father's 
home.  But  no.  He  had  asked  for  light  and  must 
follow  its  lead,  at  all  costs.  He  was  to  take  ship 
very  shortly  from  Xew  York.  It  had  been  decided 
that  he  and  Mr.  McMaster  and,  as  was  learned  at 
the  last  moment,  a  third  convert  to  arrive  from  l\Tew 
England,  by  the  name  of  Isaac  Hecker.  were  to  be 
prepared  in  Belgium  and  Holland  for  the  duties  of 
the  Catholic  priesthood.  They  had  been  accepted  as 
novices  bv  the  Order  of  the  Most  Holv  Redeemer. 

These  were  strange  and  uncanny  words  to  her 
ears,  and  sorrowful  was  the  parting  between  mother 
and  son.  He  put  her  on  a  Saratoga  car,  intend- 
ing without  fail  to  take  the  next  southbound  train. 
It  was  a  warm  summer  day  of  the  year  1845.  They 
were  destined  never  to  meet  again.  The  last  ob- 
ject her  eyes  rested  upon  in  death  was  the  portrait 
of  Clarence  on  the  wall  of  her  bedroom  at  Saratoga. 
When  he  returned  from  Europe  a  Redemptorist  she 
was  in  her  grave.  To  her  mind  the  Church  of 
Rome,  given  over  to  idolatry,  superstition  and  wily 
wickedness,  was  an  abomination.  But  she  kissed 
Clarence  good-bye,  then  dropped  her  head  in  grief 
on  one  arm,  which  rested  on  the  back  of  a  car  seat, 
and  in  this  position  he  still  saw  her  as  the  train 
moved  off.  A  sad  remembrance,  truly,  for  a  loving 
heart. 

The  following  letters  were  found  among  family 
papers,  and  have  not  before  been  published.     They 


78      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

are  here  given  in  the  order  of  their  dates.  They 
show,  among  other  things,  that  the  son  who  was 
thus  stirred  to  cross  the  wishes  of  his  parents  was 
neither  hard-hearted  nor  ungrateful.  He  was  fol- 
lowing the  promptings  of  a  conscience  enlightened 
by  deep  study  and  earnest  prayer.  He  was  strug- 
gling on,  above  and  beyond  his  companions,  to  a 
height  of  lonely  crucifixion  seldom  required  of  a 
soul  so  young.  He  cut  himself  off  from  pleasure, 
wealth,  honor,  home,  friends  and  country  for  the 
love  of  God.  In  answer  to  an  inward  call  he  had 
entered  the  land  of  vision,  and  was  already  climbing 
the  mountain  of  sacrifice,  at  the  first  dawning  of 
new  Tight,  whilst  ever  the  lines  of  Newman,  so  re- 
cently published,  held  his  thought: 

"Amid    the    encircling   gloom, 
Lead  Thou  me  on." 

Only  one  of  this  budget  of  letters,  that  of  July  21, 
1845,  was  written  after  he  became  a  Catholic. 

Clarence    to    the    Eon.    Reuben   E.    Walworth,    Saratoga 

Spa,  N.  Y. 

New  York  Sem'y,  November  10,  1844. 

Dear  Father  —  Your  constant  kindness  to  me  not  only 
while  under  age,  but  ever  since,  has  laid  me  under  unusual 
obligations  to  be  grateful  both  to  God  and  to  you,  and  yet  I 
cannot  deny  that  my  continued  dependence  upon  you  for  sup- 
port has  been  the  occasion  of  much  shame  and  uneasiness, 
especially  knowing  that  what  property  you  have  has  been 
acquired  not  by  sudden  fortune,  but  by  labor  and  early 
economy,  and  having  heard  you  often  say  that  your  yearly 
expenses  were  constantly  entrenching  upon  that  capital  which 
ought  to  be  reserved  for  your  future  retirement  and  rest.     I 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  79 

cannot  consider  without  feelings  both  of  pain  and  pleasure 
the  great  expense  which  during  the  year  past  has  been  occa- 
sioned by  the  disease  of  my  eyes  —  pain  that  they  should  have 
cost  you  so  much  —  pleasure  that  you  have  met  the  expense 
so  kindly  and  freely. 

These  chiefly,  besides  other  considerations  have  determined 
me  to  endeavor  to  relieve  you  of  my  support,  for  the  future. 
I  can  I  think  make  my  wants  very  few  for  a  little  while, 
till  the  temporal  fruits  of  my  calling  shall  yield  me  year 
after  year  all  I  desire  of  this  world's  goods  —  the  necessaries 
of  life,  the  riches  which  Our  Lord  has  given  to  the  raven 
and  the  sparrow.  My  life  henceforth,  if  God  please,  shall  be 
devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Church.  That  is  the  Lord's  vine- 
yard and  there  I  am  ready  to  labor  for  my  penny  a  day.  It 
will  be  a  source  of  much  regret  to  me  that  I  cannot  expect 
in  this  the  full  sympathy  of  my  parents.  It  has  pleased  God 
to  make  us  differ  in  some  respects  when  we  would  be  glad 
to  agree.  There  will  be  on  my  part  a  deep  satisfaction  in 
believing  that  the  religious  views  of  those  I  love  are  con- 
scientiously held  and  piously  carried  out  into  practice,  and 
I  commend  them  with  joyful  hope  into  the  hands  of  Him  who 
has  caused  me  to  believe  that  all  "  they  who  fear  God  and 
work  righteousness  are  accepted  of  Him." 

I  purpose  leaving  immediately  for  Wadhams  Mills,  Essex 
County,  where  by  Divine  permission  I  shall  spend  the  winter 
with  my  friend  the  Rev.  Edgar  P.  Wadhams.  I  shall  find 
there  as  I  trust  employment,  healthful  exercise  and  religious 
counsel  and  sympathy. 

Do  not  I  beseech  you  be  offended  that  I  have  not  consulted 
you.  Your  advice  will  always  be  gratefully  received;  I  knew 
you  were  willing  to  aid  me  to  the  extent  of  your  power;  and 
yet  as  my  theological  education  is  certainly  hostile  to  your 
religious  views  and  feelings,  it  became  me  to  take  this  step, 
and  to  take  it  of  my  own  accord. 

I  look  forward  with  both  fear  and  hope  to  the  action  of  the 
Senate  upon  your  nomination  to  the  Judgeship.  I  appreciate 
fully  its  advantages  to  your  health  and  happiness  and  shall 
be  overjoyed  at  your  success.  It  would  relieve  me  from  much 
anxiety  on  your  account. 


80       Life  Sketches  or  Father  Walworth. 

Give  my  love  to  ray  dear  mother.  May  God  recompense 
both  you  and  her  for  this  long  course  of  parental  care  and 
tenderness. 

Ever  your  grateful  and  affectionate  son, 

CLARENCE  WALWORTH. 

Clarence  Walworth  to  the  same. 

Wadham's  Mills,  Feb.  24,  1845. 

Dear  Father  —  I  learn  by  a  paper  Mary  sent  me,  that  your 
nomination  to  the  Judgeship  has  been  withdrawn,  and  the 
name  of  Judge  Xelson  sent  in  to  the  Senate.  After  waiting 
so  long  in  hope,  it  is  a  sad  disappointment  to  us  all  of  course, 
but  if  there  is  loss  on  the  one  hand  there  is  satisfaction  in 
knowing  that  there  is  gain  on  the  other.  It  is  a  loss  to  know 
that  you  are  deprived  of  the  retreat  we  hoped  for  you  from 
the  excessive  labors  and  vexations  of  your  present  office,  but 
it  is  gain  to  think  you  are  withheld  from  what  the  Holy 
Scriptures  tell  us  most  distinctly  are  hazardous  and  unde- 
sirable, viz. :  an  increase  of  worldlv  wealth,  and  an  addition 
of  worldly  honor,  which  besides  their  manifold  temptations, 
diminish  our  eternal  gains  by  enlarging  our  present  pleasures. 
I  certainly  think  that  when  fortunes,  honors  and  dignities  are 
received  they  ought  rather  to  be  regarded  as  dangerous  and 
responsible  trusts,  than  as  personal  favors ;  for  poverty  is  the 
better  and  more  Christian  state,  otherwise  I  cannot  under- 
stand why  so  many  eulogiums  are  pronounced  upon  it  in  the 
Gospel,  why  our  Lord  chose  it,  and  his  first  followers  gloried 
in  it.  If  this  is  so,  then  when  worldly  fortune,  honors  or 
dignities  are  withheld  from  us,  we  may  hope  it  is  a  personal 
favor  to  us,  God  bestowing  his  dangerous  trusts  elsewhere, 
excusing  us  from  hazardous  service,  in  order  to  permit  us 
the  more  advantageously  to  attend  to  the  perfection  of  our 
own  souls,  in  that  state  best  fitted  for  it. 

I  doubt  not  you  are  well  prepared  to  receive  thankfully 
this  indication  of  God's  will,  but  I  thought  it  would  be  kind 
and  dutiful  to  assure  you  that  I  sympathize  heartily  with  you 
both  in  your  disappointment  and  your  consolations.  While  I 
cannot   deny  that   the  thing  has   grieved   me,   yet   Faith   says 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  81 

plainly  that  our  wise  Father  in  heaven  has  made  a  good 
choice  for  you,  withholding  the  temporal  bene  tits,  that  he  may 
give  you  the  spiritual.  I  would  rather  you  .should  have  health, 
peace  of  mind,  and  opportunities  of  religious  retirement  than 
the  sum  total  of  all  the  honors  and  salaries  the  world  wa3 
ever  able  to  give. 

I  received  a  few  days  ago  a  very  kind  letter  from  Mother 
which  I  will  endeavor  to  answer  very  soon.  I  am  in  good 
health  and  want  nothing.  My  eyes  are  constantly  improving, 
and  I  have  great  hopes  of  speedily  recovering  their  full  use. 
I  shall  be  very  glad  to  hear  from  you.  My  cordial  love  to 
Mother  and  all  the  family  you  may  see. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

CLARENCE. 

B.   W.    Whitcher   to   Clarence   Walworth. 

[This  letter  was  addressed  to  Saratoga  Spa, 
IsT.  Y.,  and  forwarded  from  there  to  ]\"ew  York  city, 
where  Clarence  then  was,  all  alone,  at  Mr.  Jenkin's 
house,  78  Eleventh  street.  Probably  Chancellor 
Walworth  himself  redirected  it  to  that  address.  His 
own  letter  of  Jnlv  17th,  next  after  this  in  order, 
shows  a  last  effort  of  fatherly  love  to  win  his  first-horn 
son  hack  to  his  fireside.  Its  swift-coming  answer, 
which  completes  the  group,  shows  that  he  was  hop- 
ing against  hope ;  and  the  words  therein  still  throb 
with  the  pang  of  a  heart-breaking  farewell.  But 
smiles  and  tears  come  often  together  in  life,  and  so 
we  may  just  as  well  read  over  here  in  the  same  con- 
nection in  which  it  was  found  this  chat  of  a  fellow 
seminarian,  and  Tractarian  not  yet  ordained,  who 
was  striving  to  maintain  an  untenable  position  on 
the  back  of  the  awakening  Anglican  "  whale." 
Across  the  outer  fold  of  this  letter  of  Whitcher's, 
Clarence    Walworth    wrote     the    words:     "Roman 


82       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Catholic  in  fact/3  He  always  regretted  that  this 
companion  of  his  in  theological  study  dallied  so 
long  before  becoming  Roman  Catholic  in  name. 
That  AVhitcher  himself  regretted  it  no  less  may  be 
seen  in  his  book:  "  The  Story  of  a  Convert." 

Whitestown,  July  8,  1845. 

My  Dear  Walworth  —  Your  favor  of  the  17th  ult.  would 
have  been  answered  much  sooner  had  I  not  been  desirous  of 
hearing   from    Piatt   before    I    determined   whether    to    go   to 
the  city  or  not.     On  Saturday  last  I  had  his  answer,  but  have 
not  been  able  to  write  until  now,  owing  to  indisposition,  nor 
am  I  now  well  enough  to  write  all  I  wish  to  say.    Though  I  do 
not  take  the  same  view  of  the  orders,  sacraments  and  worship 
of  the  P.  E.  Church  that  you  do,  yet  your  letter  made  me  feel 
very  melancholy,   for   I   cannot   deny   but   that  the  governors 
in  our  church  have  arrayed  themselves  against  Catholic  truth. 
Protestant  —  the  brand  of  our  humiliation  and  shame  —  has 
been  stamped  upon  us,  and  yet  by  the  good  Providence  of  God 
we  are  not  called  upon  to  believe  any  heresy.     In  this  respect 
we  are  in  a  far  better  condition  than  our  parent  the  church  in 
England ;  e.  g.    I  told  Bp.  DeLancey  last  winter  that  I  thought 
some  of  our  Articles  heretical,  which  he  thought  was  no  im- 
pediment to  orders,   whereas  such  a  declaration  made  to  an 
English  Bp.  would  be  a  bar  to  orders.     I  have  no  doubts  in 
regard  to  the  historical  validity  of  our  Orders.     The  consecra- 
tion of  Arch.  Bp.  Parker  (on  which  the  whole  question  turns) 
was  a  valid  though   irregular   consecration.     Having  then  to 
my  mind  a  true  Priesthood,  our  sacrifice  is  a  true  one,  though 
the  form  lacks  many  of  the  ancient  ceremonies;   but  it  is  not 
wanting  in  any  essential  part.     I  take  the  same  view  of  our 
worship.     It  can  only  be  sinful  when  positive  error  is  taught, 
and  as  the  service  contains  no  error,    (they  being  Catholic  as 
far  as  they  go)   it  is  lawful  to  use  it  when  it  is  not  connected 
with  heretical  teaching  from  the  pulpit.     And  by  God's  grace 
I  shall  avoid  this.     But  I  had  almost  forgotten  to  say  that 
I   do  not  think   that  I  can  go  to  the  city  at  present,  as  it 
would  prevent  the  visit  which  I  intend  to  make  to  my  mother. 


Lead  Kindly  Light.  8 


.i 


As  your  eyes  are  still  poor,  wliy  not  come  and  see  me?  I 
think  it  would  do  me  no  injury,  as  the  people  here  would  sup- 
pose that  I  had  got  you  to  come  that  I  might  convert  you 
from  what  they  think  your  errors.  1  shall  not  go  west  to 
visit  my  mother  till  the  18th  of  August.  Come  a  fortnight 
or  so  before  that  time,  and  go  with  me  to  see  Piatt  and  then 
go  on  to  Fredonia  to  see  your  uncle.  From  what  I  hear, 
through  Miss  Berry,  of  your  parents,  they  would  be  glad  to 
have  you  take  such  a  trip.  For  they  regard  your  late  change 
as  the  result  of  natural  love  of  novelty  and  the  immediate 
effect  of  a  heated  fancy;  all  of  which  they  think  will  be  cured 
by  intercourse  with  your  old  friends,  but  especially  they  hope 
you  may  fall  in  love  and  marry,  that  an  effectual  bar  may 
be  placed  to  your  orders  in  the  Catholic  church.  This  reminds 
me  to  ask  you  whether  you  have  marked  out  any  course  for 
your  future  life?  You  will  not  think  it  out  of  place  (I  trust) 
if  I  say  that  your  present  condition  is  very  full  of  danger  of 
which  no  doubt  your  spiritual  guide  has  warned  you.  The 
danger  is  this,  that  having  entered  at  once  into  the  full  en- 
joyment of  the  Catholic  faith,  Satan  will  take  occasion  to 
stir  up  pride  and  self-complacency;  that  spirit  which  we 
see  too  plainly  in  our  high-churchman,  a  sort  of  "  we  are  the 
true  elect  "-feeling  —  such  as  the  Jews  had  towards  their 
neighbors.  Another  danger  is  that  no  exertion  will  be  spared 
to  entangle  you  with  some  woman  to  cut  you  off  from  a 
higher  and  more  divine  life.  If  God's  secret  grace  shall  call 
you  on  to  perfect  virtue,  follow  it  with  a  glad  and  trembling 
heart,  but  do  not  run  before  the  grace  of  God,  nor  mistake 
imagination  for  grace.  Origen  did  this  and  had  a  miserable 
fall.  But  I  feel  that  I  have  no  right  to  speak  upon  these 
subjects. 

Why  is  it,  my  Dear  Friend,  that  Catholics  seem  to  start 
up  about  my  path  when  I  make  no  distinct  efforts  to  make 
them  such?  I  teach  the  people  that  we  have  an  interest  in 
the  departed  and  they  in  us,  and  here  and  there  a  pious  soul 
asks  of  me  in  private  whether  they  may  pray  for  the  departed 
father  or  mother  or  child  or  sister.  1  teach  them  to  confess 
their  sins,  and  they  open  their  griefs  to  me,  and  ask  what 
they  shall  do.  I  teach  them  to  have  unity  among  themselves, 
and  they  ask  me  whether  unity  with  the  Holy  See  will  not 


84      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

be  brought  about.  Charles  writes  me  that  it  is  the  same  with 
him,  that  about  him  have  sprung  up  those  who  desire  a  higher 
and  a  more  holy  life;  persons  who  seem  to  feast  by  fasting, 
and  to  grow  by  self-denial,  and  to  increase  in  wealth  by  chari- 
ties to  the  poor. 

I  do  not  expect  to  apply  for  Priest's  Orders  at  present. 
There  are  several  questions  which  I  wish  to  study  before  doing 
so.  Answer  as  soon  as  convenient  and  believe  me, —  Truly 
vours,  B.  W.  WHITCHER. 

Reuben  H.  Walworth  to  Clarence. 

Saratoga  Springs,  July  17,  1845. 

My  Dear  Son  —  I  wrote  to  your  mother  from  New  York  to 
tell  you  that  if  you  were  anxious  to  do  something  to  support 
yourself  under  present  circumstances,  I  could  make  an  ar- 
rangement whereby  you  could  be  appointed  my  probate  clerk 
in  the  place  of  Mr.  Barbour,  with  a  salary.  I  understood  by 
a  letter  from  her  that  Mr.  Barbour  spoke  to  you  on  the  sub- 
ject and  that  you  declined  it.  I  therefore  said  nothing  on 
the  subject  while  you  were  here.  In  conversing  with  your 
mother  this  morning,  I  am  inclined  to  think  I  must  have  mis- 
understood the  purport  of  her  letter.  If  I  was  under  a  mis- 
take, it  is  not  too  late  to  make  that  arrangement,  which  will 
afford  you  the  means  of  supporting  yourself  instead  of  being 
dependent  upon  others  who  care  nothing  for  you.  Write  and 
let  me  know  whether  you  are  willing  to  accept  that  situation, 
or  would  prefer  to  abandon  your  parents  and  all  your  friends 
who  really  feel  any  interest  in  your  welfare.  Let  me  entreat 
you  before  you  irrevocably  sever  all  natural  ties,  and  cast 
yourself  upon  the  cold  charities  of  the  world,  without  funds 
or  the  means  of  procuring  them,  to  reconsider  your  determina- 
tion to  reject  the  offers  of  your  only  real  friends  to  furnish 
you  the  means  of  earning  a  livelihood  among  them.  What- 
ever may  be  your  conclusion,  however,  and  although  you  may 
be  the  means  of  rendering  the  residue  of  my  life  miserable,  if 
not  of  abridging  its  duration,  I  shall  not  cease  to  pray  for 
your  happiness  here  and  hereafter. 

Your  affectionate  father, 

R.  H.  WALWORTH. 


Lead  Kixdi.v  Ligij t.  85 

Clarence,  to  the  Hon.  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  Saratoga  N/?a. 

New  York  City,  July  21,  1845. 

My  Dear  Father  —  I  received  your  letter  on  Saturday  eve- 
ning. I  thank  you  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  for  the 
renewal  it  contained  of  your  kind  offer  of  the  clerkship,  but 
am  constrained  to  decline  it.  I  am  persuaded  the  voice  of 
God  calls  me  elsewhere.  If  I  am  deceived  with  regard  to  the 
intimations  of  His  will,  I  plead  His  infinite  mercy  as  the 
ground  of  my  excuse.  Do  not  suppose  that  I  have  not  con- 
sidered your  offer  with  all  its  advantages,  or  that  I  am  look- 
ing forward  to  the  future  with  high  anticipations  of  happi- 
ness. I  see  on  one  hand  a  life  of  independence,  money  beyond 
my  wants  or  desires,  leisure  to  pursue  those  studies  most  at- 
tractive to  me,  and  what  is  more  than  all,  the  society,  the  love 
and  approbation  of  my  dearest  friends.  On  the  other  hand  lie 
the  loss  of  all  these,  early  ties  broken,  confidence  withdrawn,  a 
life  among  strangers  for  whom  as  individuals  I  have  no  espe- 
cial regard,  and  who  have  none  for  me,  poverty  and  perpetually 
recurring  humiliations  and  mortifications.  I  see  also  the  pos- 
sibility, if  God  so  please  that  I  may  become  blind,  useless  and 
despised.  And  what  afflicts  me  most  of  all,  is  the  sorrow  I 
shall  occasion  those  to  whom  I  am  under  God  so  deeply  in- 
debted for  past  love  and  protection.  I  have  not  only  thought 
of  all  these  things,  but  they  have  forced  themselves  upon  my 
mind  when  exerting  myself  to  avoid  them,  until  my  heart  has 
seemed  broken  and  crushed,  and  every  hope  buried. 

And  yet  in  all  this  I  find  some  grounds  of  comfort.  Our 
Blessed  Saviour's  cross  was  not  covered  with  flowers,  nor  did 
a  crowd  of  admirers  follow  Him  to  Calvary.  He  was  not 
honorable,  nor  respectable,  nor  comfortable:  but  God  ap- 
pointed to  Him  poverty,  contempt  and  agony.  Did  He  endure 
these  that  his  followers  might  be  spared?  No!  He  said  the 
world  would  hate  them  as  it  hated  Him,  and  "  except  a  man 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  Me,  he  cannot  be  My  disciple." 
We  are  not  privileged  to  gather  to  ourselves  enjoyments  in 
this  life,  and  plead  the  sufferings  of  Christ  for  enjoyment  in 
the  next,  but  if  we  would  reign  with  Him  then,  we  must  suffer 
with  Him  now.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  many  moral,  kind 
and  neighborly  persons,  whose  amiable  qualities  win  our  affec- 
tions, who  are  called    Christians,  and  yet  who   take  care   to 


86       Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Walworth. 

avoid  troubles  or  ill  remark,  and  enjoy  the  good  opinion  of  all 
about  them,  are  really  in  danger  of  suffering  with  the  damned ; 
but  so  the  Gospel  teaches,  and  I  can  not  think  that  salvation 
is  so  easily  won.  Certainly,  when  the  way  of  duty  leads  to 
suffering,  there  is  no  safety  in  any  other  course.  And  such  is 
clearly  my  own  path  of  duty. 

I  have  become  a  Catholic,  because  I  am  persuaded  that  the 
Catholic    Church    is    the    Christian    fold    into    which    Christ 
gathers  his  own  flock.     In  these   United   States,   this  Church 
is  misunderstood  and  hated.     Not  only  the  spiritual  destitu- 
tion of  the  whole  country  so  proud  in  its  infidelity,  calls  for 
help,  but  multitudes  of  Catholics  are  deprived  of  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  Church  and  the  privilege  of  public  worship  and 
instruction,   from  want  of  priests.     There  is  an  especial   call 
upon  me  then  who  have  looked  forward  so  long  to  the  priest- 
hood.    And    why    should    I   not?     My    parents    and    my    best 
friends  do  not  love  the  Catholic  religion  and  cannot  bear  that 
I  should  become  a  Catholic  priest.     Here  is  then  on  one  hand, 
the  call  of  God,  and  on  the  other  the  cry  of  flesh  and  blood. 
Which  shall  I  follow?     Clearly  I  must  follow  God,  although 
my  heart  should  break  in  the  meanwhile,  and  indeed  I  think 
it  cannot  bear  much  more.     Farewell !   then,  dear  Father,  and 
forgive   me   all   the  grief  I  have  ever  caused  you,   and  espe- 
cially this  last  of  all.     It  is  I  who  give  you  the  wound,  but  I 
strike  through  my  own  flesh. 

My  eyes  are  now  quite  strong,  and  I  have  great  confidence 
that  they  will  give  me  very  little  more  trouble,  indeed  none 
except  that  of  using  them  cautiously  for  a  while. 

As  to  my  plans  I  am  not  able  to  speak  very  definitely.  I 
intend,  God  willing,  to  become  a  priest  in  the  "  order  of  the 
Most  Holy  Redeemer  "  ( so  called )  and  with  that  view  to  make 
my  preparatory  studies  in  a  Seminary  of  that  order  in  Bel- 
gium. 

I  shall  embark  as  soon  as  may  be,  how,  when  and  where  I 
cannot  yet  tell,  as  I  must  endeavor  to  go  in  the  most  direct 
and  cheapest  way.  But  I  will  write  again  before  I  leave.  I 
received  Mother's  letter  of  the  same  date  with  yours  and  will 
try  to  answer  it  immediately.  Love  to  her  and  all.  May 
God  bless  you  and  sanctify  you  with  manifold  grace  through 
Christ.  Your  affectionate  son, 

CLAKKXCE. 


VI. 


VOCATION;  STUDIES  ABROAD. 

At  St.  Trond  with  Isaac  Hecker  —  Letters  from  Bel- 
gium, Holland  and  England. 

He  who  so  generously  followed  "  the  call  of  God ' 
in  early  manhood  at  a  cost  partly  revealed  in  his 
farewell  letter  to  his  father  of  July  21,  1845,  seems 
never  from  that  time  to  have  doubted  his  vocation 
to  the  Catholic  priesthood.  The  enthusiasm  and 
reverence  with  which  he  prepared  himself  for  it 
never  grew  cold.  But  it  was  with  a  heavy  heart  for 
friends  and  country  that  he  turned  his  back  on 
America,  to  take  ship  for  the  Redemptorist  novitiate 
in  Belgium.  Accompanying  him  was  one  companion 
of  former  days,  James  McMaster,  a  convert  like 
himself  and  from  the  Chelsea  Seminarv.  He  was 
of  Pennsylvania  Scotch-Irish  parentage,  the  same 
who  edited  for  many  years  the  Freeman  s  Jmirnal. 
These  two  at  the  last  moment  were  joined  by  a 
third  American  convert,  Isaac  Hecker,  a  native  of 
New  York  city,  though  of  German  parentage.  He 
was  a  most  interesting  accession  to  the  party.  He 
came  fresh  from  Brook  Farm  and  the  atmosphere  of 
the  New  England  Transcendentalists.  He  had  been 
a  disciple  in  turn  of  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and 
Orestes  Brownson.  He  knew  all  the  ins  and  outs 
too,  from  an  early  apprenticeship  at  that  trade,  of  a 
baker  shop.      They  soon  found  him  to  be  in  many 


5>S       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

ways  a  helpful,  practical  individual,  with  a  warm, 
generous  heart.  At  first,  however,  the  two  young 
travelers  from  St.  Mary's  of  the  Adirondacks  looked 
with  wonder  upon  this  flaxen-haired  idealist  with 
the  long  locks  resting  upon  his  shoulders.  He  ap- 
peared a  true  Isaac,  ready  for  the  sacrifice,  obedient 
to  every  whisper  of  the  Divine  bidding.  Over  the 
billows  and  through  the  brakes  it  was  even  now  lead- 
ing him  on  all  unaware  toward  the  founding  of  the 
Community  of  Paulist  Fathers.  George  William 
Curtis,  who  knew  him  in  his  earlv  days,  has  de- 
scribed  him  as  a  frank,  ardent,  generous,  manly 
v(  tuth.      It  was  he  who  at  Brook  Farm  nicknamed 

* 

him,  "  Ernest  the  Seeker."  Clarence  Walworth  and 
James  McMaster  had  twentv-five  davs  at  sea  on  that 
first  Ions;  voyage  of  theirs  in  which  to  become  ac- 
quainted  with  Isaac  Hecker.  And  where  do  friend- 
ships ever  grow  faster  than  when  fellow-travelers 
are  locked  away  from  thickly  peopled  shores  on  the 
great  bosom  of  old  ocean  ?  When  barriers  of  waves 
are  piled  up  on  every  side  against  the  sky,  the  bar- 
riers of  reserve  are  wont  to  sive  way.  Thev  were 
aboard  the  good  ship  Argo,  from  XewT  York,  having 
embarked  on  August  2,  1845,  bound  for  London.  It 
was  an  American  ship,  with  a  Yankee  crew,  and  a 
full  passenger  list.  The  lower  and  larger  berth  of 
their  stateroom  held  the  two  Tractarians,  whilst  the 
newly  converted  Transcendentalist  slept  peacefully 
above  them.  Xone  of  the  three  were  seasick,  and  the 
hours  of  many  days  were  passed  in  a  pleasant  inter- 
change of  views.  Clarence  taught  Isaac  how  to  say 
the  rosary.  He  and  Edgar  Wadhams  had  supplied 
themselves  with  this  article  of  piety  when  they  were 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  89 


in  Montreal,  and  not  being  then  Catholics,  had  shyly 
dipped  their  new  rosaries  in  a  holy  water  fount  by 
way  of  getting  them  blessed,  supposing  that  to  be 
the  proper  way.  These  would-be  novices  were  too 
eager  to  land  to  wait  till  they  should  reach  the  port 
of  London.  They  quit  the  Argo  at  Portsmouth  in  a 
pilot  boat,  and  traveled  in  railway  coaches  to  Lon- 
don, from  which  they  had  on  their  way  a  glimpse 
of  Winchester  Cathedral.  This  we  learn  from  Wal- 
worth's letter  to  Wadhams,  written  some  months 
later.*  On  the  29th  of  August  Isaac  Hecker 
wrote  home  from  London  saying  they  had  already 
been  there  for  three  days.  McMaster  had  gone  on 
to  Oxford  and  Littlemore  to  find  John  Henrv  New- 
man  and  talk  writh  him  of  Arthur  Carey  and  the 
American  Tractarians.  A  few  months  later  New- 
man himself  entered  the  Catholic  Church.  The 
other  two  iimerieans  took  the  first  packet  that  sailed 
for  Antwerp,  embarking  at  Folkestone  August  30, 
1845.  The  next  day  they  saw  at  Antwerp,  Ru- 
ben's great  picture,  the  "  Descent  from  the  Cross." 
They  dined  with  a  hospitable  lady  to  whom  they 
bore  a  letter  from  Father  Rumpler,  C.S.S.R.  from 
whom  they  had  parted  in  New  York  city.  But 
they  could  not  converse  with  her  as  she  spoke  only 
Flemish.  There  were  friendly  glances  and  grateful 
bows,    a   plentiful    board,    and   good    appetites,   but 


*  See  Walworth's  "  Reminiscences  of  Edgar  P.  Wadhams,"  page 
116.  This  letter  gives  a  full  and  lively  account  of  the  St.  Trond 
Novitiate,  and  urges  Wadhams  to  come  and  enter  there.  It 
also  gives  Walworth's  first  impressions  of  Westminister  Abbey 
in  graphic,  characteristic  language.  Walworth  also  wrote  from 
St.  Trond  to  Preston,  who  had  fallen  heir  to  his  room  at  the 
Chelsea  Seminary.  This  letter  was  one  more  call  Homeward, 
resounding  in  the  thoughts  of  the  future  distinguished  Vicar  Gen- 
eral of  the  Archdiocese  of  New  York. 


90       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth, 

neither  Walworth's  French  nor  Hecker's  German 
were  of  the  least  use  for  conversational  purposes. 
That  same  evening  after  journeying  across  level 
country  they  reached  St.  Trond,  a  little  town  twenty 
miles  from  Liege.  The  star  of  all  their  brightest 
hopes  stood  over  it.  How  quaintly  charming  this 
ancient  little  place  seemed  to  the  two  young 
Americans!  Can  you  not  see  them,  their  boyish 
faces  aglow  with  anticipation,  passing  side  by  side 
through  the  narrow  streets,  wondering  at  the  un- 
familiar architecture,  and  old-time  painting,  while 
the  sunset  light  of  historic  Flanders  was  streaming 
in  through  every  opening  to  light  up  their  locks  ?  At 
last  they  stand  before  the  liedemptorist  novitiate, 
an  old  Augustinian  building.  With  what  a  tremor 
of  expectation  they  must  have  looked  about  them 
and  into  each  other's  eyes!  Then  boldly  they 
knocked  at  that  mysterious  portal  for  admission. 

If  to  a  Catholic  from  birth,  one  reared  under  the 
care  of  religious,  and  in  his  own  land,  it  be  a  mo- 
mentous thing  to  put  himself  into  the  hands  of  a 
novice-master  for  spiritual  training,  what  courage 
and  faith,  and  longing  for  sanctitv,  must  not  have 
been  in  these  two  hearts,  to  bring  them  thus  over 
sea  and  land.  The  star  of  faith  had  first  drawn 
them  from  heresy,  and  then  led  them  far  away  from 
the  bright  heritage  of  their  free  western  land,  where 
the  path  of  legal  distinction  lay  open  to  one,  and  of 
untold  wealth  to  the  other.  Xow,  at  last,  in  the  calm 
ray  of  its  light  they  stood  here  humbly  seeking  ad- 
mission to  a  holv  house  as  stood  the  Magi  at  Beth- 
lehem's  cave.  The  poverty  of  the  spot  touched  but 
did  not  alienate  them.     They  felt  the  presence  of 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  91 

angels  close  by  as  they  crossed  the  threshold,  and 
right  willingly  they  laid  down  at  their  Redeemer's 
feet  the  best  of  all  gifts,  their  own  radiant  selves, 
for  service  in  the  priesthood.  What  did  they  know 
of  diocesan  seminaries,  or  different  orders,  or  special 
priestly  vocations  ?  Knowledge  of  all  that  would 
come  later;  but  here  indeed  in  this  novitiate  was  a 
"  treasure  trove/'  as  Clarence  expressed  it  in  one  of 
his  letters.  Here,  in  this  Congregation  of  the  Most 
Holy  Redeemer,  founded  by  the  saintly  Alphonsn- 
Liguori,  was  a  wealth  of  spiritual  lore  that  his  soul 
craved,  and  a  wisdom  of  spiritual  guidance  that  sup- 
plied all  his  needs.  Here  and  later  at  Wittem  he 
bounded  forward  on  his  course  with  rapid  strides. 
He  soon  outstripped  in  theological  studies  his  friend 
Isaac  Hecker  whose  previous  classical  training  had 
been  less  thorough.  The  questions  of  Clarence  and 
his  love  of  reasoning  won  him  the  name  of  Brother 
Pourquoi.  The  language  of  the  Reclemptorist  Houses 
at  St.  Trond  and  Wittem  was  either  French  or 
Latin.  After  completing  the  novitiate  at  St.  Trond, 
and  taking  the  vows,  he  passed  on  to  Wittem,  the 
House  of  Studies.  It  was  in  Limbourg,  that  part 
of  Holland  reaching  southward  in  a  narrow  strip. 
It  was  decided  whilst  at  St.  Trond  that  Mr.  Mc- 
Master  who  had  soon  followed  them  from  England 
had  no  vocation  to  the  priesthood.  The  Master  of 
^Novices,  Pere  Othman,  advised  him  to  return  to 
America  and  do  battle  for  the  cause  of  truth  as  an 
editor.  He  obeved  this  advice  to  the  letter.  He 
married  and  prospered,  remaining  always  a  zealous 
Catholic.  Clarence  Walworth  made  his  vows  on  the 
Feast  of  St.  Teresa  October  15,  1846.     The  spirit 


92       Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

in  which  lie  prepared  himself  for  them  and  for  the 
priesthood,  as  also  the  old  strength  of  affection  be- 
tween him  and  his  father  and  a  certain  calm  wisdom 
unusual  in  one  so  young,  appear  in  the  following 
letters.  They  were  carefully  preserved  by  Chan- 
cellor Walworth.  From  the  originals  as  filed  away 
by  him  they  are  here  copied. 

Clarence,  to  the  Eon.  Reuben  E.  Walworth,  Saratoga  Springs, 

etc. 

St.  Troxd,  Sept.  18,  1845. 

My  Dear  Father — I  have  permission  to  write  to  you  which 
I  avail  myself  of  very  gladly,  for  I  would  not  have  you  think 
that  in  consecrating  myself  wholly  to  God  in  a  religious  order 
I  divest  myself  of  filial  love.  On  the  contrary,  should  I  by 
grace  be  able  to  fulfill  my  vocation,  the  Divine  love  will  make 
my  regard  for  my  parents  and  all  my  relatives  both  more  pure 
and  tender.  Indeed  I  shall  never  forget  my  obligations  to  you. 
Morning  and  evening,  in  my  chamber  and  out  of  doors,  at  all 
hours  of  the  day  and  especially  at  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  I  com- 
mend my  parents  to  the  care  of  God,  and  solicit  in  their  behalf 
the  kind  interest  of  the  saints  in  Heaven.  Should  anything  in 
my  conduct  before  my  departure  appear  strange,  remember 
all  the  circumstances  of  my  case,  the  constant  control  I  was 
obliged  to  exercise  over  my  feelings  which  almost  distracted 
me.  Although  I  never  wavered  in  my  resolution,  which  1 
believed  to  be  the  will  of  God,  yet  I  sometimes  thought  I 
should  gain  the  victory  at  the  expense  of  a  broken  and  para- 
lyzed spirit.     But  it  is  not  well  to  say  any  more  of  all  this. 

May  I  ask  you,  dear  Father,  to  consider  sometimes  when 
you  are  at  leisure,  when  your  court  is  dissolved  and  all  the 
learned  and  distinguished  men  who  surround  vou  so  often  are 
gone,  to  ask  yourself  sometimes,  what  is  the  spirit  of  the 
Protestant  religions,  what  are  their  requirements,  and  how  do 
they  agree  with  the  demands  of  the  Gospel  —  what  mortifica- 
tions of  pride  are  required,  what  duties  that  the  natural  man 
finds    hard?     What   is   there    in    the   world    about    vou   which 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  93 

nature  demands  and  the  Presbyterian  religion  forbids.  What 
strong  temptations  about  you  are  you  constantly  called  upon 
to  resist  in  order  to  follow  Jesus?  Certainly  a  religion  which 
demands  no  sacrifice  is  not  Christ's,  and  a  holiness  which 
pleases  all  the  world  is  different  from  His.  To  obey  God 
when  the  heart  recoils,  this  is  the  way  of  the  Cross.  You  will 
not  I  think  be  displeased  with  what  I  say,  because  you  know 
well  if  I  supposed  my  friends  were  in  the  way  of  salvation,  I 
myself  would  not  be  here.  May  God  in  his  infinite  mercy  hear 
my  prayers  in  behalf  of  you  all! 

But  you  will  rather  desire  to  hear  of  myself  than  to  know 
my  thoughts,  therefore  I  will  speak  of  myself.  I  left  Xew 
York  August  2nd,  the  feast  of  S.  Liguori  the  founder  of 
our  order,  and  landed  at  Portsmouth  from  a  pilot  boat  after  a 
passage  of  25  days.  From  thence  I  proceeded  by  railroad  to 
London  or  rather  to  Westminster  where  I  remained  a  few 
days  waiting  for  a  steamer  to  Antwerp,  in  the  meanwhile  tak- 
ing private  lodgings  just  by  the  Vauxhall  gate.  England  is 
very  beautiful;  the  country  itself  has  a  gay  and  joyous  look, 
but  the  people  rich  and  poor  look  either  stupid  or  frigid. 
England  is  "  Merry  England "  no  longer.  *  *  *  What  a  con- 
trast this  side  of  the  channel  presents.  Antwerp  was  to  me 
a  new  world.  *  *  *  All  neat  and  smiling,  seemed  happy  as  if 
they  had  just  made  a  good  confession  and  God  had  bid 
them  be  glad.  Every  public  building,  every  street  corner,  and 
almost  every  door,  had  some  religious  emblem.  It  is  the  same 
at  St.  Trond  where  I  am  now  located  for  the  year  to  come. 
Everything  pleases  me  here.  I  am  satisfied  that  if  I  earnestly 
and  patiently  endeavor  to  draw  near  to  God,  I  have  here 
enough  both  to  teach,  encourage  and  aid  me.  I  take  the  habit 
on  the  15th  of  Oct.  next,  which  will  be  the  commencement  of 
my  novitiate,  and  a  year  from  that  date,  please  God,  I  shall 
take  the  vows  and  commence  my  theological  studies,  probably 
at  Wittem,  not  far  from  here  where  there  is  a  Seminary  of 
the  order.  *  *  *  (He  tells  what  a  novitiate  is,  and  then  con- 
tinues) :  As  for  mv  health  it  never  was  better,  and  mv  mind 
never  more  calm  or  happier.  I  have  in  my  chamber  a  picture 
of  the  Infant  Jesus  standing  against  the  cross,  with  his  arms 
extended  as  if  waiting  to  be  crucified.  There  are  no  nails  in 
his  hands  or  his  feet.     He  is  at  liberty,  but  he  has  made  his 


94      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

choice  and  will  not  go.  It  is  a  sweet  picture  and  teaches  a 
precious  lesson  to  the  novice  when  the  Way  of  the  Cross  seems 
hard.  "  If  anyone  will  be  my  disciple,  let  him  take  up  his 
cross  and  follow  me !  "  And  so  I  take  my  stand  also  before 
the  Cross,  not  without  great  fear  for  my  weakness,  but  with 
much  confidence,  that  God  will  supply  the  necessary  strength. 

Remember  me  kindly  to  my  old  friends,  with  the  assurance 
that  they  are  not  forgotten.  I  have  loved  them  for  many  rea- 
sons heretofore.  Now  I  will  try  to  love  them  for  Christ's 
sake  simply.  As  for  my  dear  Mother  and  sisters,  and  Mans- 
tield,  what  shall  I  say  to  them?  We  have  no  longer  many 
matters  of  worldly  interest  in  common.  For  that  reason  I 
connect  them  the  more  in  my  thoughts  with  things  of  eternal 
interest.  I  cannot  wish  for  any  of  you  riches,  or  honors,  or 
means  to  live  too  easily,  all  which  may  bring  too  strong  temp- 
tations to  neglect  salvation,  but  I  wish  for  you  just  such  gifts 
and  privations  as  may  best  lead  you  to  despise  earthly  happi- 
ness and  repose  solely  in  God. 

Again  and  again  and  always,  for  your  past  love  and  great 
kindness,  and  my  mother's  exceeding  tenderness,  I  thank  you 
both,  and  give  you  all  I  can,  my  constant  and  most  earnest 
prayers.     May  God  reward  you   richly  with  gifts   of  eternal 

value. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

CLARENCE  WALWORTH. 

p    s. —  If  you  should  wish  to  write  to  me,  direct  to  me  "  at 
the  R.  FF.  Redemptorists,  St.  Trond,  Belgium." 

Clarence,  to  the  Hon.  Reuben  H.  Walworth. 

St.  Trond,  July  6,  1846. 

My  Dear  Father  —  Your  letter  has  reached  me  safely  and 
is  most  welcome.  Satisfied  as  I  am  with  my  position  in  this 
blessed  Congregation  and  firm  as  is  my  determination  with 
God's  permission  and  approbation  to  serve  him  in  it  until  my 
death,  I  find  nothing  to  forbid,  but  everything  to  foster,  the 
strong  affection  which  nature  and  reason  and  gratitude  de- 
mand toward  yourself  and  my  mother,  my  earliest  and  most 
constant  earthly   friends.     Had  I  not  a  God  to  serve   whose 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  95 

voice  calls  me  elsewhere,  where  could  I  desire  to  he  rather 
than  hy  your  side,  in  my  own  country  and  surrounded  by  all 
my  old  relatives  and  friends!  Nature  can  find  no  country 
so  beautiful  as  one's  own  native  land,  and  none  so  dear  as 
the  old  familiar  faces.  But  1  in  my  humble  degree  have  a  call 
similar  to  the  Apostles,  who  left  their  nets  with  their  father, 
because  they  could  not  resist  the  voice  of  Jesus  who  called 
them  away.  Nature  must  give  way  to  the  call  of  Grace.  ZVIy 
constant  prayers  for  you  are  my  witnesses,  my  dear  Father, 
how  well  I  remember  you.  And  it  is  pleasant  to  know  I  am 
not   forgotten. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  regulations  of  our  order  to  forbid 
or  discourage  correspondence  with  friends,  especially  with 
parents  and  others  to  whom  we  are  bound  by  ties  of  nature 
and  of  gratitude.  Only  this  correspondence  must  be  regulated 
by  those  principles  to  which  we  are  bound,  of  renunciation  of 
the  world  and  of  matters  of  secular  interest,  of  self  and  selfish 
gratification.  Those  things  which  concern  the  welfare  of  my 
family,  friends,  and  of  my  benefactors  are  subjects  of  legiti- 
mate curiosity,  since  they  are  also  the  subjects  of  my  daily 
prayers.  It  may  be  well  to  say  however  that  souvenirs  such 
as  sometimes  pass  among  friends,  unless  of  the  simplest  kind, 
as  a  religious  picture,  etc.,  are  matters  of  embarrassment,  on 
account  of  the  vows  we  take  which  hold  us  to  poverty  and 
community  of  goods. 

I  thank  you  for  the  good  advice  you  give  me.  It  is  in 
accord  with  the  object  of  our  order  and  the  past  life  of  our 
missionaries,  and  I  desire  and  resolve  by  divine  help  to  profit 
by  it.  To  do  good  to  others  is  the  way  to  show  our  gratitude 
to  God,  and  if  the  motive  be  sincere  and  holy,  he  accepts  it 
as  if  done  to  Himself. 

I  am  grieved  that  Mother's  health  is  so  poor.  Alas!  what 
can  I  do  but  recommend  her  to  Him  who  ever  desires  the 
happiness  of  His  creatures.  May  He  restore  her  to  health 
again,  or  at  all  events  give  her  an  inward  peace  which  shall 
be  able  to  soothe  and  silence  the  pains  and  plaints  of  the  body. 
I  trust  you  are  more  careful,  my  dear  father,  of  your  own 
health.  Your  friends  always  thought  you  too  careless  in  that 
respect.  I  believe  few  persons  young  or  old  are  good  judges 
in  their  own  case.     Bodily  health  is  a  gift  of  God  which  like 


96      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

all  other  gifts  we  ought  to  give  up  cheerfully  when  duty  calls 
for  it;  but  without  such  call  our  bodies  have  a  certain  claim 
upon  us.  "We  all  know  well  enough  the  principle,  but  it  is  in 
the  application  we  deceive  ourselves  and  sacrifice  all  to  the 
dominant  desire. 

The  year  of  my  novitiate  is  now  almost  past,  and  my  voca- 
tion to  this  order  is  already  considered  as  decided.  I  shall 
take  the  vows,  please  God,  on  the  loth  of  October  next.  I 
depart  then  immediately  for  Wittem,  a  place  still  further  to 
the  eastward,  and  within  nine  miles,  I  think,  of  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle,  but  belonging  at  this  time  to  the  King  of  Holland.  It 
is  so  small  you  will  scarcely  find  it  on  the  map.  Here  is 
situated  the  House  of  Studies  for  our  order  in  this  Province, 
and  there  I  remain  until  I  shall  be  prepared  for  orders.  When 
this  will  be  I  cannot  say,  but  I  trust  to  receive  a  long  and 
thorough  course  of  instruction.  During  the  novitiate,  you 
are  aware  perhaps,  no  studies  whatever  are  allowed,  its  end 
being  on  the  part  of  the  novice  to  prove  his  vocation,  by  the 
manner  in  which  he  fulfills  his  duty  and  the  zeal  and  industry 
with  which  he  endeavors  to  acquire  the  virtues.  Would  to 
God  that  all  the  world  could  pass  through  a  similar  novitiate, 
if  for  no  other  end  than  to  learn  what  a  work  is  the  work  of 
reformation;  if  only  to  discover  by  the  tenacity  with  which 
the  heart  clings  to  its  secret  disorders  when  seriously  attacked, 
how  many  and  how  profound  are  those  disorders;  with  what 
patience  and  pains  and  hard  labor  one  must  contend  until 
death,  and  what  wondrous  grace  is  necessary  to  give  him 
success. 

I  enclose  a  letter  to  Eliza.  I  intended  to  have  written  her 
long  ago.  Mother  writes  me  that  Mansfield  will  enter  Union 
College  soon.  Doubtless  you  have  well  considered  the  matter. 
Still  I  cannot  help  think  Williams  College,  or  Yale,  far  prefer- 
able. 

My  eyes  have  gained  every  day  in  strength,  and  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt  that  Dr.  Elliott  has  effectually  cured  the 
disease  of  the  nerve.  I  perform  now  all  the  exercises  of  the 
novitiate  without  difficulty.     My  health  is  good. 

I  scarcely  know  in  what  terms  to  bid  you  remember  me  to 
Mother.     Let  it  be  done   in  such  a  manner  as  her  long  and 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  97 

patient  love  to  me  deserves.  To  all  the  rest  of  the  family 
also,  Sarah  and  Mansfield,  I  send  a  brother's  love.  To  Mary 
and   Eliza  I   shall  write. 

Believe  me  always  your  grateful  and  affectionate  son, 

CLA  RENC  E  A  LP.  AX  WALWORTH. 

P.  S. —  Should  you  write  after  the  15th  Oct.  or  your  letter 
be  not  likely  to  reach  me  before  then,  direct  to  the  care  of  our 
Congregation  —  Wittem,  Holland   (Limbourg,  par  Maestricht). 

His  sister  Eliza  named  for  him  her  eldest  son. 
Mary  became  a  widow,  November  9,  1846.  His 
mother  continued  to  fail  in  health;  she  died  at  Sara- 
toga April  24,  1847.  Before  this  following  letter 
was  penned  his  friend,  Edgar  Wadhams,  like  him- 
self, had  become  a  Catholic  theological  student." 

Clarence  to  the  Hon.  R.  H.  Walworth. 

Wittem,  Jan.  1,  1848. 

My  Dearest  Father  —  I  wish  you  from  the  bottom  of  my 
heart  a  Happy  New  Year,  and  the  same  to  all  the  rest  whose 
happiness  is  constantly  the  object  of  my  prayers.  When  I 
heard  last  from  home  you  were  just  recovered  from  a  sad 
accident  which  had  caused  you  much  suffering.  Although  my 
sympathy  was  necessarily  ex  post  facto,  it  was  I  assure  you 
none  the  less  deep  and  genuine.  May  God  preserve  to  you 
long  a  health  which  is  dear  to  so  many. 

I  myself  have  been  laid  many  weeks  upon  my  back  by  the 
typhus  fever,  or  as  the  physicians  here  call  it  typhoid  or 
diminution  of  the  typhus  which  prevails  in  many  parts  of  this 
country,  although  by  no  means  so  dreadfully  as  nearer  yourself 
in  Canada.  It  has,  however,  done  its  work  thoroughly  enough 
in  our  Convent,  which  it  has  turned  into  a  hospital  for  a 
long   time.     The   number   of  our   sick   amounted   at   one   time 


*  See  Reminiscences  of  Edgar  P.  Wadhams,"  p.  125  for  a  cheery, 
congratulatory  letter  to  him  from  Clarence  Walworth,  dated,  Wit- 
ten,  Dec.  1st,  1846,  and  addressed  to  the  Sulpician  Seminary  in 
Baltimore. 


98       Life  Ski  t<  hi>  of  Father  Walworth. 

to  no  less  than  36.  All  the  Professors  and  students  in  The- 
ology except  such  as  remained  to  take  care  of  the  sick  were 
sent  away  to  St.  Trond  or  Liege,  where  they  remained  until 
Lasl  Monday.  However,  all  is  over  now,  and  only  one  remains 
confined  to  his  chamber,  although  many  show  still  the  marks 
of  a  long  diet.  Five  of  our  dear  brothers,  three  students  and 
two  lay  brothers  have  gone  to  their  rest.  May  God  graciously 
hear  their  prayers  for  us  less  happy  who  are  left  behind! 

All  Saints'  Day  I  received  the  clerical  tonsure  and  the  minor 
orders  and  left  the  church  immediately  for  my  bed  in  the 
infirmary,  where  I  remained  until  Dec.  1.5th.  when  I  was 
placed  among  the  number  of  convalescent-  who  formed  a  sort 
of  second  community  apart  from  the  rest.  Last  Sunday  1  was 
permitted  for  the  first  time  to  come  to  the  common  table  in 
the  refectory,  but  am  still  prohibited  from  attending  class  or 
joining  in  the  other  exercises  of  the  community.  So  you  see 
here  my  history  for  the  past  two  months,  and  also  that  of 
our  Convent.  The  name  of  the  Lord  be  praised!  You  can 
easily  conceive  in  a  community  which  consists  in  all  of  more 
than  100.  a  house  of  studies  moreover  wherein  are  50  students 
with  their  Professors,  how  many  plans  and  schemes  had  been 
conceited  for  the  coming  year.  All  these  the  Lord  God  was 
pleased  to  dissipate  with  a  single  breath  in  order  no  doubt 
to  teach  us  how  little  need  He  had  of  us  all.  Such  at  least 
is  the  impression  it  has  made  upon  my  mind.  If  God  so  often 
and  so  utterly  disconcerts  the  plans  which  are  entered  into 
for  Bis  glory,  not  only  by  an  humble  community  of  mission- 
aries like  ours,  but  even  by  States  and  Councils  as  history 
teaches  so  plainly,  how  foolish  for  a  simple  individual  to 
aspire  to  become  God's  benefactor,  or  dream  of  any  plan  of 
extended  usefulness,  uncalled  by  God,  while  he  leaves  neglected 
that  to  which  every  man  is  especially  called  and  obliged  —  the 
sanctification  of  his  own  soul.  No,  indeed,  this  is  our  chief 
concern.  At  the  day  of  Judgment  God  will  not  ask  of  us  how 
much  we  have  done,  nor  how  much  good  we  have  done,  but 
rather  whether  the  motives  of  our  actions  were  true  love  to 
him,  or  self-love  and  ambition,  true  obedience  or  self-will. 
Pray  for  me,  my  dear  Father,  that  I  may  be  ever  actuated  by 
such  principles  and  that  all  my  actions  may  be  sanctified  by 
true  love  and  obedience  and  a   heartfelt  humilitv. 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  00 

I  am  exceedingly  happy  for  I  have  found  my  true  vocation 
and  am  satisfied  with  it  beyond  what  I  am  able  to  describe; 
and  the  malady  which  has  so  lately  visited  our  house  of 
Wittem,  has  contributed  to  raise  this  satisfaction,  if  indeed 
increase  were  possible,  to  the  highest  point.  The  patience  and 
contentment  of  so  great  a  number  of  sick,  which  amounted  to 
gaiety,  the  happy  fervor  of  the  dying,  the  charity  of  those 
brothers  who  were  permitted  to  devote  themselves  to  the  ser- 
vice of  the  sick,  and  the  thousand  ways  and  forms  in  which 
were  manifested  the  holy  influence  of  our  discipline  and  God's 
benediction  upon  it,  were  Avell  enough  calculated  to  increase 
my  love  and  veneration  for  our  order,  and  my  earnest  desire 
to  live  and  die  in  the  faithful  observance  of  its  rule. 

You  will  not  forget  to  remember  me  affectionately  to  every 
dear  member  of  our  family.  Sarah  it  seems  considers  me  in 
her  debt  for  a  letter.  I  thought  the  balance  of  the  account 
was  the  other  way,  but  I  am  not  disposed  to  dispute  the  ques- 
tion. For  the  present  I  must  postpone  payment  and  in  the 
meanwhile  recommend  myself  to  a  choice  place  in  her  patient 
and  affectionate  remembrance. 

Let  me  hear  particularly  of  your  health  which,  after  the 
great  question  of  eternity,  is  the  chief  point  of  interest,  and 
believe  me  ever 

Your  affectionate  son, 

CLARENCE  A.  WALWORTH. 

Wittem,  Jan.  5,  1848. 

P.  S. —  I  send  the  enclosed  as  a  Christmas  present  to  Eliza. 
She  will  see  by  the  back  of  the  picture  that  she  is  thus  invited 
to  perform  during  the  year  the  office  of  the  Negro  King  at 
Bethlehem  in  bearing  the  myrrh,  which  she  can  do  by  sup- 
porting ill  health  or  other  incommodity  with  patience  for  the 
sake  of  our  infant  Saviour.  My  compliments  to  Mr.  Backus 
also  and  little  Lilly,  my  old  playfellow  at  Schenectady. 

Whilst  Clarence  Walworth  was  writing  the  above 
letters  he  was  under  the  direction  of  some  remark- 
able and  very  holy  men.  One  of  these  was  the  Very 
Reverend    Father    Passerat,    Vicar-General    of    the 


100     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Congregation  of  Redemptorists  in  the  north,  resi- 
dent at  Vienna,  who  visited  Belgium  during  this 
preparation  of  the  two  young  Americans  for  the 
priesthood.  Father  Passerat  looked  carefully  after 
the  instruction  of  the  students.  These  young  men 
were  greatly  interested  in  the  personality  of  this  re- 
vered superior,  who  had  seen  eventful  days  in  the 
French  army  when  his  native  France  was  in  the 
throes  of  its  awful  revolution.  They  wanted  his 
picture  at  Wittem  but  could  not  induce  him  to  sit 
for  it  owins:  to  his  humility.  The  artist  of  the 
house  managed,  however,  to  hide  himself  with  his 
paints  under  a  table  with  a  cloth  too  large  for  it. 
By  a  skillful  arrangement  of  its  folds,  he  observed 
Father  Passerat's  features  whilst  he  was  giving  a 
conference,  without  attracting  his  attention  to  him- 
self, though  he  did  not  escape  the  keen  eyes  of  the 
Americans.  He  secured  in  this  way  sufficient  ar- 
tistic data  for  a  portrait.  In  a  volume  entitled  the 
"  Life  of  Father  Bernard,''  by  Canon  Claessens,  on 
page  217  of  the  appendix,  are  these  words  of  Car- 
dinal Yillecourt :  "  If  Father  HofTbauer  had  re- 
ceived from  God  the  mission  of  instilling  into  the 
members  of  the  institute  (of  St.  Alphonsus)  the  ar- 
dent zeal  and  indefatigable  activity  of  the  holv 
founder,  Father  Passerat  may  justly  be  called  the 
master  of  the  spiritual  life,  destined  to  revive  more 
and  more,  among  the  Bedemptorists,  the  spirit  of 
prayer." 

It  was  Father  Passerat  who  sent  Father  Frederick 
de  Held,  an  Australian  nobleman  and  a  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Vienna,  a  friend  of  literarv  men 
and  scholars,  to  Belgium  in  1833  to  direct  the  Be- 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  101 

demptorist  communities  recently  founded  there.  He 
became  provincial  over  them  and  soon  extended  the 
houses  of  his  order  into  Holland,  England  and 
America.  It  was  Father  de  Held  who  had  accepted 
the  young  converts  Walworth  and  Hecker  as  novices 
in  1845,  during  his  visit  to  the  United  States.  He 
had  with  him  at  that  time  a  companion,  Father  Ber- 
nard Hafkenscheid,  a  native  of  Amsterdam  who  was 
destined  later  to  give  to  Father  Walworth  his  train- 
ing for  the  missions.  It  was  a  part  of  Father  Ber- 
nard's duty  when  at  Wittem  to  give  retreats  to  the 
seminarians.  He  also  preached  regular  annual  re- 
treats to  the  clergy  of  the  Holland  Mission ;  but  his 
great  power  as  a  pulpit  orator  was  shown  above  all 
when  on  the  parish  missions  to  the  laity.  For  two 
terms  he  was  prefect  of  the  second  novitiate  of  the 
Redemptorists,  an  immediate  preparation  for  the 
missionary  career.  It  has  been  said  of  him  that 
"  there  was  never  a  professor  of  sacred  eloquence 
who  could  more  successfully  develop  the  oratorical 
talents  of  his  pupils."  What  delight  he  must  have 
taken  in  the  training  of  so  apt  a  pupil  as  Clarence 
Walworth !  It  was  largely  to  Father  Bernard's  in- 
structions and  example  that  the  latter  was  wont  to 
attribute  his  success  as  a  mission  preacher. 

Father  Walworth  was  ordained  priest,  August  27, 
1848,  by  the  Bishop  of  Ruremonde,  in  Holland. 
On  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  that  event,  he  asked 
me  to  take  from  among  his  degrees  and  diplomas, 
in  a  small  lock  box,  his  ordination  papers,  and  find 
the  one  of  that  date  signed  by  that  bishop.  I  did  so, 
and  read  over  to  him  as  well  as  I  could  the  Latin 
text  of  it  in  the  seclusion  of  his  home  adjoining  St. 


102     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Mary's  Rectory  in  Albany.  That  was  the  only  cele- 
bration of  his  golden  jubilee  that  he  allowed  or  de- 
sired. To  ine  it  was  an  impressive  moment  when  I 
unfolded  that  yellow  paper,  and  watched,  as  I  read 
it,  the  expressive  countenance  of  the  venerable  man 
before  me  whose  thoughts  were  leaping  over  a  half 
century  of  fruitful  priestly  labors. 

A  month  after  his  ordination,  Father  Walworth 
crossed  the  channel  with  two  young  Belgian  priests 
and   Brother  Isaac   Hecker,   who  had  not  yet  suc- 
ceeded in  passing  the  examinations  for  ordination. 
They  journeyed  as  far  as  Clapham,  three  miles  south 
of  London   Bridge.      There   the  Redemptorists  had 
recently  established    a   convent.     From   September, 
1848,   until   January,    1851,   Father  Walworth  re- 
mained   in    England.      His    "  Reminiscences    of    a 
Catholic  Crisis  in  England  "  relate  to  this  part  of 
his  life.     When  he  was  seventy-eight  years  old  he 
dictated  them  to  his  amanuensis,  between  intervals 
of  illness.      They  appeared  in  the   Catholic   World 
Magazine    from     June,    1899,   to   January,    1900. 
These  Reminiscences  give  proof  of  a  wonderful  mem- 
ory and  an  indomitable  energy.     The  character  of 
Cardinal   Wiseman,   the   no-popery   riots,    and   side 
glimpses  of  Irish  Famine  days  are  brought  before  the 
reader  with  vivid  touches,  whilst  the  author's  com- 
ments show  a  broad  grasp  of  thought.      Some  will 
read,   some   skim  over  the  following  letters  to  his 
father.     In  them  we  learn  more  of  his  younger  per- 
sonality.    We  can  there  see  him  at  his  priestly  labors 
in  quiet  Worcestershire,  winning  his  way  to  many  an 
English  heart,  though  bristling  all  the  while  with  un- 
tamed and  undaunted  American  patriotism.    He  was 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  103 

English  enough  to  love  the  landscape  and  historic 
spots,  Yankee  enough  to  resent  the  class  distinctions ; 
zealous  as  always  for  the  truth,  unmellowed  as  yet 
by  a  cultivation  that  came  from  fifteen  consecutive 
years  of  travel,  much  deep  thought,  and  a  wide  ex- 
perience of  human  nature.  Letters  home  from 
young  hearts  in  any  case  must  needs  reveal  char- 
acter, and  where,  if  not  in  such  correspondence,  is 
it  allowable  and  desirable  to  dwell  on  one's  every 
day  pursuits  in  the  line  of  duty? 

To  the  Eon.  R.  E.  Walworth,  Saratoga  Spa. 

Hanley  Castle,  Feb.  5,  1849. 

My  Dear  Father  —  You  have  perhaps  been  surprised  at  my 
long  silence,  and  so  am  I.  If  I  had  written  as  often  as  I 
have  undertaken  to  do  so,  you  would  have  been  long  ago  well 
supplied  with  letters.  When  you  heard  from  me  last  I  was,  if 
I  remember  rightly,  at  London,  newly  ordained  Priest,  and 
not  yet  much  entered  into  the  active  duties  of  my  calling. 
Now,  however,  I  am  fairly  engaged  in  it,  preaching,  confessing, 
instructing,  catechising,  etc.,  etc.,  which  together  with  the 
religious  exercises  of  our  order  among  ourselves,  fill  up  the 
day  in  such  a  way,  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  even  a  spare 
moment  for  a  deliberate  yawn.  You  will  agree  with  me  no 
doubt  that  it  is  better  so,  according  to  the  well-known  prin- 
ciple of  the  primer :  "  For  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for 
idle  hands  to  do."  It  is  in  this  way  that  I  have  postponed 
writing  from  day  to  day  until  at  last  to  my  own  confusion  I 
forget  when  I  wrote  last.  I  find  moreover,  that  contrary  to  a 
certain  half  hope  which  lay  sneaking  in  the  rear  of  my  im- 
agination, my  dear  friends  in  America  insisting  with  true 
freeman's  jealousy  upon  their  rights,  have  not  seized  the 
charming  occasion  offered  them  to  display  their  superior  gen- 
erosity. So  you  see,  my  dear  Father,  how  I  am  obliged  to 
come  out  of  my  winter  quarters  a  little  shamefaced  and  begin 
the  campaign. 


104     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

I  am  situated  now  with  six  others  of  our  order,  three  priests 
and  three  lay  brothers,  at  the  little  village  of  Hanley  Castle  in 
Worcestershire,  about  four  miles  from  Upton  on  Severn,  two 
miles  from  Malvern,  not  far  from  the  City  of  Worcester,  and 
just  under  the  beautiful  hills  of  Malvern  so  much  frequented  by 
Byron  and  other  poets  of  England.  We  have  a  most  beautiful 
Gothic  Church  and  Convent,  so  beautiful  and  perfect  that  it 
draws  visitors  from  all  parts  to  admire  the  architecture.  It 
is  no  doubt  very  beautiful  arid  all  that,  but  for  my  part  I 
would  be  glad  enough  for  the  present  to  exchange  it  for  an 
uglier  one  of  any  shape  and  style,  situated  in  some  more 
populous  place,  inhabited  by  a  greater  number  of  God's  own 
dirty-faced  poor.  However,  at  present  in  England,  we  take 
what  we  can  get,  and  the  rest  bye  and  bye.  Our  order  is  only 
just  beginning  in  England,  and  it  is  always  something  gained 
to  make  a  beginning. 

I  commenced  my  missionary  labors,  properly  so  called,  in 
December  last,  just  before  Christmas,  in  the  Parish  of  St. 
George's,  London,  where  we  were  invited  by  Bishop  Wiseman 
to  give  a  spiritual  retreat  (that  is,  as  you  would  say  in 
America,  a  revival).  It  was  a  large  church,  holding  about 
3,000  persons,  and  was  well  filled  during  the  two  weeks  we 
preached  there.  I  will  give  you  some  account  of  it,  in  order 
that  you  may  understand  what  is  the  especial  vocation  of  a 
Redemptorist  missionary  and  our  way  of  conducting  a  mis- 
sion. Our  public  exercises  at  St.  George's  were  as  follows: 
At  liy2  a.  m.  every  morning  except  Sundays,  I  preached 
after  the  Gospel  of  the  Mass:  at  6  y2  in  the  evening  I  ex- 
plained the  mysteries  of  the  Rosary  to  the  people,  and  then 
recited  the  prayers  with  them.  At  7  p.  m.  another  of  our 
Fathers  explained  the  ten  commandments  and  their  obligations 
and  prohibitions.  A  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  third  Father 
already  a  distinguished  Preacher  in  England  (Father  Peche- 
rine)  preached  on  the  great  general  truths  of  Religion,  such 
as  the  nature  of  Sin  —  Death  —  Judgment  —  Hell,  and  simi- 
lar subjects  the  most  calculated  to  stimulate  the  conscience. 
The  rest  of  the  day  was  given  to  the  confessional,  and  the 
necessary  preparations  for  our  instructions.  The  hearing  of 
confessions  is  the  principal  thing  done,  whether  you  consider 
the    time    occupied  —  the    fatigue,    or    the    benefits    resulting. 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroai..  105 

It  is  then  we  bring  about  reconciliations  between  enemies; 
force  the  guilty  man  to  restore  what  he  has  taken  by  fraud, 
violence  or  theft;  oblige  criminal  lovers  to  separate;  and 
oblige  all  persons  to  keep  away  from  those  places  or  occa- 
sions, where  it  appears  by  their  own  showing,  or  by  the  nature 
of  the  thing  itself,  that  they  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  sin. 
It  is  here  too  we  find  our  consolations  in  viewing  the  effects  of 
our  ministry  in  the  pulpit,  and  so  learn  at  the  same  time 
what  is  useful  in  preaching,  and  what  is  thrown  away.  Here 
we  see  plainly  too  how  much  corruption  walks  about  under 
fine  clothes,  and  how  also  devout  looks  and  religious  sentiment 
often  hide  a  shabby  conscience. 

Xothing  but  experience  can  show  clearly  how  much  is  done 
in  confession  for  the  salvation  of  souls  which  cannot  be  done 
in  any  other  way.  Conscience  may  be  excited  in  the  pulpit, 
and  also  general  instruction  given,  but  it  is  impossible  there 
to  continue  the  work,  and  build  up  a  ruined  soul  again,  and 
carry  a  reform  into  effect.  Our  work  was  rather  fatiguing, 
for  we  had  little  more  than  five  hours  sleep,  and  the  excite- 
ment of  the  day  was  more  wearing  than  its  bodily  labor. 
I  confess  I  felt  a  singular  interest  in  the  fact  of  entering  upon 
my  missionary  labors  in  London —  (i.  e.  Soutlrvvark)  the  an- 
cient residence  of  my  own  race,  and  preaching  there  their  own 
ancient  faith,  which  they  had  practiced  centuries  ago  before 
Christianity  had  yet  heard  of  Protestantism.  On  seeing  one 
day  the  London  directory  I  had  the  curiosity  to  search  for 
my  owrn  name.  I  found  in  the  whole  city  only  two  Walworths 
if  I  remember  rightly,  a  stone  mason  and  a  cheesemonger,  or 
something  like  that.  The  district  of  Walworth,  a  large  and 
populous  one,  belonged  to  the  parish  of  St.  George  where  we 
gave  our  Mission,  which  also  made  me  feel  so  to  say,  more  at 
home. 

The  difference  between  Englishmen  and  Americans  is  strik- 
ing, with  the  exception  always  that  both  are  phlegmatic.  Tho' 
Americans  are  cool  but  animated,  the  English  are  cold.  You 
may  think  perhaps  there  is  national  prejudice  in  this,  but  I 
think  not  much.  The  people  seem  to  me  like  a  noble  race 
hampered  by  the  absence  of  liberty  and  hope.  God  grant 
that  poor  old  England  may  become  "  Merry  England  "  again 
some  day. 


106     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

My  health  i*  pretty  good,  just  as  you  have  always  seen 
me,  i.  e.  in  a  lean  mediocrity  with  a  certain  leaning  towards 
the  2d  seven  years  of  Joseph's  prophecy.  My  eyesight  is 
wonderfully  improved  so  that  it  gives  me  no  difficulty  in  good 
daylight.  I  presume  by  the  news  which  I  have  heard  of 
Taylor's  election  to  the  Presidency,  that  the  Empire  State 
went  against  both  his  competitor  and  yourself.*  This  is  of 
course,  no  grief  to  you;  so  far  as  you  are  personally  concerned 
I  presume  you  would  rather  be  congratulated  than  consoled 
for  this.  Pray  let  me  know,  my  dear  Father,  when  and  how 
you  employ  yourself,  if  at  Saratoga  altogether,  or  if  you  have 
an  office  at  Albany,  New  York  or  elsewhere,  if  you  are  in  good 
health  and  spirits,  etc.,  and  if  you  have  given  up  the  idea, 
which  was  thrown  out  a  while  ago,  of  a  trip  to  Europe.  Give 
my  best  love  to  all  the  dear  family  —  and  to  myself  across 
the  water  your  paternal  benediction.  That  God  may  nave 
you  ever  in  his  holy  keeping  is  my  daily  prayer  at  the  Holy 
Sacrifice.     Remember  me  also  in  your  prayers. 

Your  affectionate  son  and  servant  ever, 

CLARENCE  ALF.   WALWORTH. 

C.  S.  S.  R. 
My  address  is: 

Rev.  Father  Walworth, 

Hanley-Castle,    Worcestershire. 
(Near  Upton  on  Severn.) 

On  the  back  of  this  letter  his  father  has  written 
these  words :  "Answered  March  10. "  The  reason  that 
answers  to  these  letters  from  England  are  not  here 
given  may  be  found  on  page  187  of  the  volume  of 
Wadhams  Reminiscences.  There  Father  Walworth 
says:  "I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  preserving  private 
letters/'  The  middle  initial  of  his  name,  be  it  ob- 
served, may  stand  either  for  Augustus,  Alban,  or 


*  Ex-Chancellor  Walworth  was.  in  the  autumn  of  1848,  the 
Democratic  candidate  for  Governor  of  New  York.  The  office  of 
Chancellor,  on  and  after  July  1,  1848,  together  with  the  court 
over  which  he  had  presided,  was  abolished  by  the  new  constitu- 
tion.    Thenceforward  he  held  court  only  in  certain  referred  cases. 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  107 

Alfonsiis.  Augustus,  was  given  him  by  his  father. 
The  others  first  appear  in  a  joyous  letter  to  Edgar 
Wad-hams  written  just  after  he  became  a  Catholic 
(See  Wa&hams  Reminiscences;  Benziger  Bros. 
1893,  pages  83-86).  It  concludes  thus:  "Your  af- 
fectionate friend  and  brother,  Clarence  'Alban  Al- 
phonsus.'  The  two  names  you  see  in  my  signature 
are  the  names  by  which  I  was  confirmed." 

His  second  letter  from  Worcestershire  reads  thus: 

To  the  Hon.  R.  H.  Walworth,  Saratoga  Spa. 

Hanley  Castle,  June  12,  1849. 

Dear  Father  —  I  am  still  here  at  Hanley  occupied  in  the 
duties  of  my  calling  as  when  I  wrote  you  last.  These  duties 
so  far  as  they  regard  the  people  of  the  neighborhood,  are 
preaching,  confessing,  visiting  the  sick,  superintending  and 
catechising  the  children  of  the  School,  and  instructing  the 
converts  who  seek  admission  to  the  church  of  which  there 
are  always  several  on  hand.  Indeed  our  mission  is  composed 
for  the  most  part  of  converts  brought  up  in  the  English 
Establishment  or  in  the  Baptist  or  Methodist  sects.  The 
zeal  of  these  different  religions  here  is  not  very  fervent. 
The  greatest  obstacles  we  find  in  our  way  arise  from  the 
want  of  religious  and  moral  sentiment,  and  from  the  depen- 
dence of  the  people  on  their  landlords.  The  circle  of  our  opera- 
tions is  wide  enough,  on  account  of  being  in  the  country; 
which  is  certainly  a  great  disadvantage,  because  with  journey- 
ing back  and  forth  one  takes  a  long  time  to  do  what  in  the 
city  is  soon  accomplished.  In  fact  the  people  are  getting 
quite  accustomed  to  see  the  little  Roman  Catholic  pony 
trotting  backwards   and   forwards. 

I  am  not  surprised  to  hear  that  your  health  is  so  much 
better.  The  great  wonder  is  how  you  could  ever  sustain  the 
great  labors  you  have  undergone  for  so  long  a  time.  You 
will  now  I  hope  have  all  the  benefit  and  interest  of  time  well 
occupied  in  those  pursuits  for  which  your  habits  of  mind  have 
best  fitted  you,  and  yet  free  from  drudgery. 


108     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

I  should  have  been  very  well  pleased  if  General  Cass  had 
succeeded  in  the  elections,  for  then  there  would  I  suppose 
have  been  some  hope  of  seeing  you,  in  the  case  of  your  receiv- 
ing a  foreign  appointment.  For  myself  I  cannot  say  anything 
(for  I  know  nothing)  with  regard  to  the  time  of  my  return 
to  America.  It  is  probable  enough  that  I  shall  return  some 
day,  and  perhaps  soon,  but  I  shall  never  ask  to  be  sent  there, 
for  fear  that  if  I  should  seek  out  a  destination  to  please 
myself,  God  would  be  the  less  pleased  with  it. 

June  14.  I  resume  my  letter  to-day  at  Overbury  where  I 
am  staying  with  a  Catholic  gentleman,  Mr.  Fitzherbert,  for 
two  days.  It  is  only  nine  miles  from  Toddington  of  which 
you  spoke,  Lord  Sudbury's  seat.  If  possible  I  will  endeavor 
to  see  it,  and  tell  you  something  of  it  before  closing  my  letter. 
I  have  seen  Almlev  Castle,  or  rather  the  hill  where  it  used  to 
be,  the  seat  of  the  celebrated  Earls  of  Warwick.  The  great 
Guy  of  Warwick,  the  old  King  Maker,  must  have  been  very 
familiar  with  the  whole  scene  of  my  ramble  yesterday,  and 
a  lovely  country  too.  I  think  the  English  gentlemen  who 
inhabit  this  vicinity  at  present,  although  not  so  warlike  as 
those  of  old,  have  something  of  their  breakneck  disposition. 
It  is  wonderful  that  they  should  chase  with  their  hounds  and 
horses  over  hills  and  crags  where  another  would  pick  his 
way  carefully,  on  foot.  They  are  all  mad  with  hunting  and 
sporting.*  I  wonder  the  English  gentry  do  not  all  turn  into 
horses,  and  the  tenants  into  donkeys. 

At  Hanley  we  are  only  some  2y2  miles  distant  in  direct 
line  from  Malvern,  which  is  like  Saratoga  Spa,  a  visiting  place 
in  the  warm  season  for  invalids,  on  account  of  a  spring  which 
for  some  reason  unknown  bears  the  name  of  Holy  Well. 
Like  Saratoga  the  place  would  scarcely  have  an  existence  ex- 
cept for  the  visitors.  From  the  top  of  the  Malvern  Hills  we 
look  down  into  Hereford  to  the  west,  with  a  view  of  what  I 
may  call  the  premonitory  symptoms  of  the  Welsh  Mountains. 
None  can  deny  that  the  country  is  very  beautiful.  It  is  won- 
derful to  see  the  misery  which  abounds,  above  all  the  moral 


*  It  remains  for  the  twentieth  century  American  to  say 
whether  or  not  we  are  true  chips  of  the  old  block,  whenever  a 
chance    comes    for    the    sons    of  millionaires    to    play    the    lord. 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  109 

insensibility  and  degredation,  giving  the  lie  to  the  ideas  of 
Paradise  which  well-fed  ladies  and  gentlemen  entertain  when 
they  look  upon  these  beautiful  woods  and  meadows.  And 
yet  England  is  not  very  populous  especially  in  this  quarter. 
If  all  Americans  knew  the  value  of  their  condition,  in  a  tem- 
poral point  of  view  at  least,  they  would  have  reason  to  eat 
their  Thanksgiving  dinners  with  a  genuine  hearty  gratitude 
to  God  for  their  daily  bread. 

Jan.  16.  A  rainy  day  yesterday  prevented  me  from  visiting 
Toddington,  and  as  I  return  to-day  to  Hanley,  it  will  be  im- 
possible at  present  to  visit  it.  It  is  said  to  be  a  most  beautiful 
residence,  and  kept  with  great  care. 

My  best  love  to  all  the  dear  members  of  our  familv  and 
all  friends  who  enquire  after  me.  Excuse  this  careless  scrawl 
of  which  I  am  somewhat  ashamed,  and  give  me  across  the 
great  ocean  a  father's  benediction,  a  father  for  whose  happi- 
ness my  daily  prayers  are  offered  at  the  holy  altar. 

With  filial  love  and  esteem, 

Your  faithful  son, 
C.  WALWORTH,  C.  S.  S.  R. 

To  the  Eon.  R.  H.  Walworth,  Saratoga  Spa: 

Hanley  Castle.  Dec.  10,  1849. 

My  Very  Dear  Father  —  The  long  time  which  has  passed 
since  I  have  heard  from  home,  makes  me  fear  some  miscarriage 
either  of  your  letters  or  of  my  own,  for  I  am  sure  when  you 
have  so  many  who  can  write  to  me,  you  would  not  so  long 
maintain  silence.  I  have  been  wondering  this  long  while  at 
receiving  no  reply,  and  blame  myself  for  not  having  written 
again  sooner  on  my  part.  I  only  want  one  little  line  to  know 
if  you  are  all  well  and  happy.  I  know  very  well  how  long 
absence,  and  difference  of  country,  occupations,  pursuits, 
companions,  as  well  as  religion,  breaks  up  the  family  union 
so  far  as  that  union  consists  in  outward  circumstances,  but 
it  cannot  break  up  that  more  real  union  which  God  established 
and  which  cannot  cease  at  least  until  time  has  ceased.  So, 
dear  Father,  encourage  all  to  write  to  me  now  and  then  at 
least,  not  that  I  care  what  is  going  on  about  you  except  so 
far  as  your   happiness   is   affected  by   it  but   only  to   receive 


110     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

a  little  piece  of  paper,  with  a  few  marks  of  ink  on  it,  so  that 
I  can  kiss  it  and  say  —  this  comes  from  home  —  they  love  me 
there  —  and  I  am  not  forgotten  —  and  all  is  well. —  For  my 
own  part  without  making  any  excuses  for  my  negligence  in 
time  past,  I  agree  to  beat  my  breast,  as  we  Catholics  do  when 
we  go  to  confession  and  say,  "  Mea  culpa,  meet,  culpa,  mea 
maxima  culpa." 

I  am  pretty  busy  at  present  in  our  mission  of  Hanley  for 
business  grows  on  our  hands,  especially  now  that  we  have 
opened  a  new  chapel  at  Upton.  As  a  Protestant  it  will  give 
you  perhaps  no  pleasure  to  hear  that  the  principal  and  most 
interesting  part  of  our  duties  is  the  instruction  and  care  of  con- 
verts to  the  Catholic  faith,  which  is  going  on  even  still  more 
rapidly  in  other  places.  Still,  however,  if  you  could  witness 
the  religious  destitution  which  drives  so  many  to  us,  you 
yourself  would  not  have  the  heart  to  regret  it. 

One  of  the  things  which  struck  me  much  in  England  is  the 
existence  in  almost  everv  Parish  of  extensive  commons,  of 
which  one  reads  so  much  in  Blackstone.  These  are  of  the  last 
importance  to  the  poor,  who  can  maintain  there  at  no  cost, 
geese,  sheep,  &c.  It  is  one  of  the  last  privileges  which  still 
remain  in  the  possession  of  the  poor,  but  which  I  fear  will 
not  remain  long,  for  applications  are  constantly  making  to 
Parliament  from  different  Parishes  to  divide  these  commons 
among  the  Proprietors  of  the  Parish  pro  rata.  Such  will 
soon  be  the  case  with  a  large  common  close  by  us.  It  is 
singular  to  an  American  to  see  take  place  about  him  unjust 
and  oppressive  measures,  which  one  would  not  dare  dream  of 
in  his  own  country,  but  which  meet  with  no  opposition  here, 
for  there  is  no  one  to  plead  for  the  poor,  while  they  receive 
all  these  things  as  misfortunes  certainly,  but  quite  natural 
and  not  to  be  wondered  at.  You  have  heard  much  no  doubt 
of  the  passion  of  the  English  gentry  for  the  chase,  but  per- 
haps you  do  not  know  how  burdensome  this  is  to  the  poor, 
even  beyond  the  effect  simply  of  the  game  laws.  The  tenants 
hire  their  farms  and  gardens  with  one  little  condition,  not 
to  kill  the  hares  &c,  which  break  bounds  to  come  in,  nor 
to  lay  traps  and  so  on  to  protect  what  they  have  planted, 
and  as  the  beautiful  English  hedges  give  little  trouble  to 
these    intruders   and    are    also    not    to   be    meddled    with,    the 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  Ill 

poor  tenant  has  only  to  take  off  his  hat  to  these  little  four- 
legged  rascals  and  wring  his  hands  over  the  destruction  of 
his  property.  And  all  this  for  the  better  preservation  of  a 
morning's  amusement.  The  rich  have  all  in  their  own  hands, 
even  so  to  speak  in  forming  the  moral  code  of  the  people. 
The  little  children  are  early  accustomed  to  it,  and  the  first 
commandment  of  the  ten  is:  Thou  shalt  not  crawl  through 
a  hedge;  and  the  second  is  like  unto  it:  Thou  shalt  not  put 
foot  in  the  park,  nor  run  on  the  grass.  As  the  English  Clergy 
are  all  interested,  none  more  so,  in  this  state  of  things,  religion 
in  England  is  no  barrier  in  favor  of  the  poor.  As  these 
are  some  of  the  things  which  form  sometimes  the  topics  of 
agitators  (although  rarely,  for  agitation  does  not  trouble 
much  the  country  people,)  and  do  not  much  concern  my 
ministry,  of  course  I  do  not  meddle  with  them;  and  yet  while 
I  am  more  concerned  with  the  moral  misery  of  the  people, 
I  cannot  help  but  feel  for  their  temporal  miseries,  and  take 
pleasure  in  the  thought  of  American  liberty. 

Please  send  me  a  little  news  of  yourself  and  the  dear  family, 
and  give  my  heart's  best  love  to  them  all,  and  to  me  your 
paternal  benediction. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

CLARENCE  WALWORTH,  C.  S.  S.  R. 

There  is  another  letter  addressed  to  the  "  Hon.  R. 
Hyde  Walworth '  from  Hanley  Castle,  dated  June 
18,  1850,  in  which  Father  Walworth  mentions  his 
birthday  lately  gone  by  as  creating  an  impression  of 
becoming  old.  "  Thirty  years  is  getting  pretty  well 
along  in  life,"  he  writes;  and  then  describes  his  life 
in  Worcestershire  as  "  quiet  although  not  inactive." 
He  continues,  after  some  jocose  and  poetic  allusions, 
to  give  his  father  a  record  of  his  labors  and  trials 
as  follows: 

"  Since  I  wrote  last  I  have  been  upon  missions  to  the  north- 
ward, at  Liverpool  and  Manchester.  Liverpool  is  almost  like 
a  Catholic  city.     It  is  estimated  that  nearly  a  third  of  the 


112     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

people  are  Catholics:  Certain  it  is  that  Catholicity  is  so 
well  known  there  that  it  excites  no  wonder,  as  in  places 
where  it  is  more  strange.  I  went  out  into  the  streets  in  the 
habit  of  my  order,  only  partially  concealed  by  a  short  mantle, 
and  was  scarcely  observed  except  by  Catholics,  who  are  accus- 
tomed always  to  salute  a  priest  whether  a  stranger  or  not. 
I  ventured  even  one  Sunday  morning  to  preach  in  the  open 
air,  in  the  verv  heart  of  the  citv,  in  the  midst  of  a  dense 
population  of  Catholics,  and  in  my  full  habit,  without  the 
slightest  disturbance  or  interruption.  A  large  empty  egg-box 
speedily  arranged  by  being  turned  upside  down  was  my  pulpit, 
—  a  large  crucifix  was  held  above  mv  head,  and  some  twentv 
members  of  a  Catholic  Guild  in  religious  uniform,  composed 
mv  bodv  guard.* 

This  may  give  some  idea  of  the  change  of  public  sentiment 
in  a  few  years.  We  have  around  us  still  and  only  just  laid 
by,  the  relics  of  the  times  of  persecution:  the  pocket  altar- 
stones,  the  little  altars  made  to  shut  up  like  a  peddler's  box, 
and  hide  away;  and  in  the  houses  of  the  Catholic  gentry  here 
and  there,  still  remain  the  little  holes  in  closets  in  the  wall, 
made  to  hide  the  Priest  in  case  of  a  search. 

I   was   much   interested   in  Manchester,   that  great   city  of 

smoke.     You  have  read,  if  I  remember  rightly,  a  description 

of  it  in  Dickens'  story  of  Little  Nelly  or  Humphrey's  Clock. 
I   went  through  one  of  the  largest  factories,  where  in  one 

single  chamber  400  girls  were  occupied  with  the  charge  of  800 

looms,  and  poor,  pale,  emaciated  creatures  they  were.     There 

is  certainlv  a  great  deal  of  moral  miserv  too  in  such  a  citv 

of  machines,  but  there  is  some  distinction  to  be  made.     Those 

who  work  at  the  looms  are  best  off  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 

for   the   nature   of   their   work    shuts   them   away   in   a  good 

measure  from  evil  communication  during  the  day,  and  when 

night  comes  they  are  glad  to  rest  their  weary  limbs  at  home. 

In  some  other  factories  where  the  work  is  less  separated,  the 


*  In  this  manner  a  large  number  were  rallied  to  take  part  in 
the  Mission  at  the  Church  who,  otherwise,  might  never  have  heard 
it   announced. 


Vocation;  Studies  Abroad.  113 

Devil  has  little  trouble,  his  work  goes  on  of  itself,  as  if  by- 
machinery,  and  he  lives  easily  on  his  regular  income.  Satan 
has  his  looin>  also,  and  the  tongue  is  the  liveliest  of  shuttles. 
One  experiences  a  painful  sensation  in  such  a  place  as  Man- 
chester, where  the  suffocation  of  both  body  and  soul  prevail 
together,  where  even  flesh  and  blood  is  denied  its  proper  edu- 
cation, and  where  human  beings  are  only  valued  as  so  many 
bones  and  joints,  so  many  elbows  or  cranks,  capable  of  a 
given  number  of  evolutions  per  diem.  Still  after  all,  if  com- 
parisons are  to  be  made,  much  which  has  been  said  of  the  vice 
of  manufacturing  towns,  proceeds  from  superficial  observa- 
tion, from  those  who  take  dirt  and  dust  for  sin,  and  green 
fields  and  sweet  air  for  innocence;  for  my  own  part,  I  believe 
that  in  England  at  least,  Satan  prefers  the  idle  misery  of  the 
country  poor,  to  the  busy  misery  of  the  poor  of  Manchester. 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  lately  of  seeing  Lord  and  Lady 
Shrewsbury,  who  came  to  visit  our  Church.  The  Earl  is  a  man 
without  any  apparent  pretension,  and  has  a  consideration 
and  kindness  in  his  conversation,  which  from  the  ease  with 
which  he  manifests  it,  I  should  judge  to  be  habitual.  His 
manners  contrast  so  strongly  with  those  of  his  countrymen 
in  general,  that  I  cannot  doubt  he  acquired  them  abroad. 
His  Lady  also  is  evidently  made  of  the  same  piece  with 
himself. 

Mr.  Newman  I  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  frequently 
at  his  convent  at  Birmingham,  and  love  him  always  more 
and  more. 

We  are  much  interested  here  in  England  in  the  case  of 
Gorham  vs.  Exeter.  *  *  *  May  God  bless  you,  my  dear 
Father,  in  this  world  and  more  abundantly  in  the  next. 
*     *     *     Asking  you  paternal  benediction,  I  remain  ever 

Your  faithful  son, 

C.  WALWORTH,  C.  S.  S.  R. 


VII. 

A   REDEMPTORIST   MISSION  PREACHER  IN 

AMERICA. 

Some  of  the  Best  Work  of  His  Life. 

"  Hecker  was  a  serious-minded  man  full  of 
earnest  energy,  but  by  the  love  of  God  made  cheerful 
and  happy;  and  could  draw  audiences  who  will  not 
forget  him.  Others  can  still  know  him  by  his  pub- 
lished works.  Of  the  band  who  came  with  us  in  the 
good  ship  Helvetia,  I  know  of  only  one  that  is  now 
left.  Father  Kittel  was  the  first  victim  to  apostolic 
zeal.  Hecker  has  gone.  Of  the  whole  twelve,  I  only 
am  left  to  witness  what  these  dear  companions  were, 
and  to  weep  that  they  are  gone."  These  words  came 
from  Father  Walworth's  lips  on  All  Saints'  Day 
in  the  year  1899.  Not  long  before  this  he  had 
asked  to  have  Pope  Leo's  Letter  on  Americanism 
reread  to  him.  He  was  sitting  in  his  Albany  home, 
near  his  amanuensis.  On  the  library  table  and  on 
shelves  close  at  hand  were  manuscript  pages  and 
proof  sheets  of  the  concluding  chapter  of 
his  "  Eeminiscences  of  a  Catholic  Crisis  in 
England  Fifty  Years  Ago."  Catholic  World 
magazines,  beginning  with  the  June  number  of  that 
year,  tied  up  in  packets,  were  piled  on  a  stand. 
It  was  the  magazine  Father  Hecker  had  founded  and 
to  which  Father  Walworth,  from  the  earliest  issues, 
had  been  a  frequent  contributor.     Their  lives  were 


Redemptobist  Missioner  in  America.     115 

often  side  by  side  in  times  gone  by.  No  wonder 
lie  thought  of  him!  That  day  he  seemed  to  have 
it  in  mind  to  set  in  order  some  of  his  thoughts, 
about  him,  as  if  for  publication.  But  this  he  did 
not  accomplish.  The  death  angel  hovered  near  and 
said:  "  No." 

Walworth  and  Hecker,  as  happy  companions, 
journeyed  together  from  London  to  Paris  during  the 
month  of  January,  1851.  They  had  much  to  tell 
one  another  of  their  experiences  in  different  parts 
of  England.  They  were  on  their  way  now  to  join 
the  new  Provincial  of  the  Redemptorist  Houses  in 
America,  Rev.  Bernard  Joseph  Hafkenscheid,  who 
had  laid  claim  to  them  for  the  American  missions. 
Father  Hecker  had  been  a  priest  for  two  years.  He 
was  ordained  in  London  by  Bishop  Wiseman  on 
October  23,  1849.  Under  Father  Bernard's  direc- 
tion, after  their  arrival  at  Paris,  they  were  taken 
to  visit  the  interesting  tomb  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,, 
that  wondrous  friend  of  the  poor.  It  was  their 
privilege,  too,  to  drink  in  spirituality  at  that  foun- 
tain of  the  priesthood,  St.  Sulpice.  They  were  ad- 
mitted, with  several  companions,  to  the  innermost 
sanctum  of  a  remarkable  Parisian  school  of  mar- 
tyrs in  the  Rue  du  Bac,  known  as  "Le  Semiiiaire 
des  Missions  Etrangeres."  They  listened  eagerly  to 
Lacordiare's  preaching  at  St.  Roch,  which  Father 
Walworth  has  well  described  in  his  very  last  chapter 
of  Reminiscences.  After  mentioning  him  and  New- 
man as  preachers,  and  also  his  opinion  of  what  con- 
stituted their  power,  the  venerable  writer  therein 
states  that  he  himself  learned  more  for  his  own  use 
in   the   priesthood   from  his   Redemptorist  superior 


116     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

than  from  either  of  those  two  famous  pulpit  orators. 
His  words  of  heartfelt  tribute  to  the  Holland  priest 
are  as  follows: 

"  My  model  preacher  sat  beside  me  in  the  sanctu- 
ary at  St.  Boch's.  It  was  Father  Bernard  Hafken- 
scheid.  He  taught  me  how  to  be  a  missionary  and 
to  give  real  missions  and  not  retreats.  I  never  knew 
my  missionary  vocation  fully  till  I  knew  him. 
Here  let  me  say  once  for  all,  without  enlarging  upon 
the  matter,  that  Father  Bernard  made  a  thorough 
study  of  me  and  of  Father  Hecker,  and  later  on  of 
Father  Hewit,  Father  Deshon  and  Father  Baker, 
as  indeed  he  did  of  all  who  came  under  his  influ- 
ence, and  trained  us  up  as  far  as  he  could  to  be  mis- 
sionary apostles.  How  far  he  was  conscious  of  be- 
ing another  St.  Liguori  I  cannot  say.  That  he 
aimed  at  this  I  know  as  a  certainty.  From  him, 
among  other  things,  I  learned  during  this  homeward 
voyage,  that  it  was  an  important  part  of  my  own 
personal  vocation  to  be  not  only  a  missionary  but 
an  American,  and  that  this  planting  of  me  and  of 
the  other  American  pupil  of  the  same  master  was  a 
call  from  heaven.  To  establish  the  preaching  of 
American  missions  in  America  was  from  this  time, 
at  least,  the  foremost  thought  in  Father  Bernard's 
mind,  and  the  central  wish  of  his  heart." 

The  party  of  twelve  Redemptorists  aboard  the  ship 
Helvetia,  who  sailed  from  Havre  January  27, 
did  not  reach  the  port  of  Xew  York  until  St. 
Joseph's  Day,  March  19,  1851.  They  had  made  a 
devout  novena  to  that  saint,  Father  Bernard  declar- 
ing again  and  again  that  they  would  be  in  port  for 
his   feast.     Aboard   the   ship    were   Fathers   Landt- 


JcEDEMPTORIST  Mission ;  kr  in   AMERICA.       117 

sheer,  Kittel,  Hold  and  Griesen,  as  also  the  students 
Hellemans,  Mueller  and  Wirth.  They  were  two 
weeks  getting  out  of  the  English  channel  on  account 
of  head  winds ;  storms  battered  them,  and  when  off 
Newfoundland  icebergs  impeded  their  progress. 
Father  Dold's  account  of  the  voyage,  with  many  de- 
tails, is  given  in  Appendix  K  of  Claessen's  "  Life  of 
Father  Bernard."  Father  Walworth's  account  of 
it  fills  three  pages  of  the  Catholic  World  for  Janu- 
ary, 1900.  I  remember  that  he  once  told  the  story 
of  that  very  eventful  voyage  by  word  of  mouth  to 
his  parish  school.  It  was  about  the  year  1889.  He 
had  just  been  saying  Mass  for  them  on  St.  Joseph's 
Day  in  the  school  chapel  at  No.  7  Pine  street.  How 
well  he  adapted  the  narrative  to  their  young  minds ! 
How  their  bright  eyes  glistened  as  he  concluded  his 
eloquent  but  simple  instruction!  He  first  told 
them  of  St.  Joseph's  journey  to  Egypt  in  order 
to  save  the  Child  Jesus  from  Herod's  decree.  This 
was  followed  by  words  of  confidence  in  his  protec- 
tion and  a  lively  account  of  his  own  soul-stirring 
escape  from  many  dangers  of  the  sea.  He  gave  the 
details  of  the  progress  of  Father  Bernard's  novena ; 
the  captain's  good-natured  incredulity;  the  sudden 
lifting  of  the  fog  on  the  fifty-fourth  day  of  their 
voyage,  which  convinced  them,  to  their  surprise, 
that  they  were  already  in  New  York  bay.  There 
before  them  in  full  view,  he  said,  lay  a  stranded 
wreck  on  Sandy  Hook  beach.  It  had  gone  ashore 
in  the  night.  Soon  a  tug  came  in  sight  with  Father 
Hecker's  brothers  aboard.  The  first  figure  they 
recognized  on  the  tug  was  the  tall  one  of  James 
McMaster,  standing  in  bold  relief  on  deck,  his  hand 


118     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

above  his  head,  waving  a  hat.  As  his  motions  were 
described  to  them  by  their  pastor,  and  also  Father 
Heeketr's  exclamations  of  delight,  the  children 
laughed  outright  in  their  glee,  and  with  this  happy 
arrival  in  port  his  story  ended. 

As  soon  as  the  fathers  landed  from  the  Helvetia 
they  went  to  the  Redemptorist  church  and  convent  in 
Third  street,  between  Avenues  A  and  B,  to  say  Mass, 
as  had  been  promised,  on  St.  Joseph's  feast.  It  was 
there  in  the  Church  of  the  Most  Holy  Redeemer 
that  Father  Rumpler  had,  several  years  before,  re- 
ceived Clarence  Walworth  into  the  true  fold.  ISTow 
he  came  back  to  them  wearing  their  own  habit,  the 
oA'erlapping  cassock,  with  a  large  crucifix  thrust  in  its 
girdle.  A  warm  welcome  was  given  to  all  after 
their  memorable  fiftv-four  davs  at  sea.  From  this 
convent  the  following  letter  was  sent  next  day  to 
Saratoga : 

New  York  City,  March  20,  1851. 

My  Dearest  Father  —  I  hasten  to  inform  you  of  my  arrival. 
We  came  in  yesterday  evening  after  a  very  long  and  tedious 
passage.  I  am,  however,  in  pretty  good  health  for  me.  1 
send  you  this  line  in  haste,  leaving  a  thousand  particulars 
to  tell  you  by  word  of  mouth.  Please  write  me,  dear  Father, 
when  I  shall  find  you  at  home,  and  let  me  know  the  where- 
abouts of  the  different  members  of  the  family,  for  some  may 
be  here  in  the  city  even,  and  I  not  know  it. 

My  dearest  love  to  all  until  I  see  you.  Address  care  of 
Rev.  Fr.  Muller,  Catholic  Church,  3rd  St. 

Your  affectionate  son. 

CLAR.  WALWORTH. 

There  was  indeed  much  news  for  him  of  an  un- 
expected kind  from  Saratoga.  lie  soon  learned  that 
his   father   was   preparing   to   bring  home    a   bride. 


Redemptoeist  Missionee  in  Ameeica.     119 

The  ex-chancellor  was  married  to  his  second  wife 
on  April  16,  1851,  at  Harrisburgh,  Ky.  The  lady 
of  his  choice  was  Sarah  Ellen  Smith  Hardin,  widow 
of  Colonel  John  J.  Hardin  of  Jacksonville,  111. 
Her  first  husband  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista  in  1847.  She  took  with  her  to  the  Saratoga 
homestead  three  Hardin  children:  Ellen,  Martin  D. 
and  Lemuel.  The  Mexican  War  had  been  waged 
and  had  passed  into  history  during  the  years  Clar- 
ence had  lived  abroad. 

At  the  Third  street  convent  Father  Walworth 
found  among  the  community  an  interesting  convert, 
Rev.  Augustine  F.  He  wit,  who  was  waiting  to  join 
him  and  Father  Hecker  in  giving  parish  missions 
in  the  English  language  throughout  the  United 
States.  Father  Hewit,  as  he  soon  learned,  was  a 
native  of  Connecticut  and  an  alumnus  of  Amherst. 
He  had  become  a  priest  and  a  Redemptorist  without 
having  occasion  to  leave  his  native  land.  At 
Charleston,  S.  C,  in  1846,  he  wras  received  into  the 
church,  and  at  Baltimore  he  made  his  novitiate. 
In  that  city  he  had  shortly  before  parted  from  a 
dear  young  friend,  an  Episcopalian  clergyman, 
Francis  A.  Baker.  Five  years  later  he  won  him  to 
his  side  as  a  companion  apostle.  He  joined  them 
under  the  Mission  Cross  in  Washington  city,  just 
a  few  months  after  George  Deshon,  a  West  Point 
graduate,  had  begun  to  preach  missions  as  a 
Redemptorist, 

In  1851,  however,  but  three  of  these  converts  had 
received  ordination.  How  Father  Bernard's  eyes 
must  have  brightened  with  hope  as  he  watched 
them !     How  carefully  he  instructed  them  for  a  first 


120     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

venture  as  rnissioners  on  their  native  heath  in  the 
austere  garb  of  St.  Alphonsus !  If  he  had  any  mis- 
givings about  them  they  were  promptly  dispelled 
by  the  success  of  their  first  American  mission.  It 
was  opened  at  St.  Joseph's  Church,  New  York  city, 
on  Passion  Sunday,  1851,  by  request  of  the  rector, 
Rev.  Joseph  McCarron. 

They  had  the  assistance  and  advice  not  only  of 
Father  Bernard  himself,  but  of  Father  Joseph 
Mueller,  the  rector  in  Third  street. 

This  mission,  preached  in  English,  at  old  St. 
Joseph's  in  lower  Sixth  avenue,  the  church  in  which 
Father  Walworth  had  been  confirmed  by  Archbishop 
Hughes  but  a  few  years  before,  was  indeed  a  notable 
occasion  in  the  religious  life  both  of  New  York  city 
and  of  the  United  States.  It  was  a  great  pioneer 
event.  To  be  sure,  the  Jesuit  Fathers  had  already 
preached  retreats  here  and  there  in  the  language  of 
the  country,  but  missions  were  not  the  same  thing. 
These  were  devised  and  carried  on,  not  only  to 
gather  in  the  Catholic  masses  of  all  classes  and  lift 
them  to  a  higher  spiritual  plane,  but  especially  were 
they  intended  to  reach  down  "  to  the  most  aban- 
doned souls."  To  these  above  all  they  were  to 
bring  the  Christ-King's  message  of  forgiveness  and 
the  kiss  of  devine  peace.  There  were  carefully 
planned  announcements  and  well-concerted  meas- 
ures for  stirring  human  souls  to  their  depths,  that 
had  come  of  long  experience  in  parishes  of  Europe. 
They  had  been  tried  not  only  in  cities,  but  out 
among  the  lonely  tillers  of  the  soil  and  uncouth 
mountaineers.  The  course  of  "  Exercises "  first 
planned    by    St.    Ignatius    Loyola   to    render   more 


Bedemptorist  Missioner  in  America.     121 

spiritual  the  thinking  minds  of  his  day  was 
adapted  by  these  fervent  disciples  of  St.  Alphonsus 
Liguori  in  a  practical,  masterful  way  to  many  dif- 
fering needs.  They  knew  well  how  to  deal  both 
with  surging  crowds  and  scattered  sinners. 

The  labors  of  the  converts,  Walworth,  ITecker  and 
Hewit,  original,  full  of  initiative  and  yet  keeping  step 
with  one  another  in  Liguovi's  harness,  led  to  many 
conversions  from  Protestantism  as  they  passed  from 
place  to  place  over  the  country.  Father  Bernard 
of  Amsterdam  was  only  for  a  time  their  superior. 
Father  Alexander  Czvitkovicz,  once  a  Hungarian 
Cossack,  succeeded  him  in  direct  charge  of  their 
route.  He  was  a  confessor  known  to  have  great 
powers  oif  endurance.  But  greater  yet  were  the 
crowds  of  penitents  their  preaching  brought  to  his 
confessional.  Spent  with  toil  and  travel,  he  was 
obliged  to  seek  a  respite  at  New  Orleans.  Father 
Walworth,  as  senior  priest,  then  led  the  band. 
Meanwhile  they  had  grown  by  natural  accretion  to 
that  famous  group  of  five,  Walworth,  Hecker, 
Hewit,  Deshon  and  Baker.  These  were  they  whom 
Pius  IX  saw  fit  later  to  release  from  their  vows  as 
Redemptorists  through  a  decree  of  bishops  and  regu- 
lars in  1858,  leaving  them  subject  only  in  their 
priesthood  to  their  own  American  bishops.  He 
urged  them  at  the  same  time  to  continue  their  zeal- 
ous work,  which  they  did,  under  the  new  name  of 
Paulists.  The  toils  and  journeyings  of  Father  Wal- 
worth on  the  missions  as  Redemptorist  and  Paulist 
for  fifteen  long  years  he  himself  called  the  best  work 
of  his  life.  He  so  expressed  himself  when  he  was 
looking  back  upon  these  eventful  years  from  extreme 


122     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

old  age,  after  his  activities  had  reached  out  into 
many  other  channels  and,  success  of  many  kinds  had 
waited  upon  his  efforts  to  further  God's  Kingdom. 

Tall,  lean,  muscular,  austere,  as  his  picture  shows 
him  and  his  friends  describe  him,  strict  in  observ- 
ance of  rule,  unsparing  in  labor,  fasting,  meditation 
and  use  of  the  discipline  as  practiced  by  his  com- 
munity, he  struggled  on  from  mission  to  mission. 
At  his  Augean  task  of  cleaning  up  neglected  souls, 
he  expended  an  energy  untiring  as  that  ascribed  to  old 
Hercules  himself.  For  now,  at  last,  after  his  long 
preparation,  he  was  in  fact  as  in  spirit  a  true  mission- 
ary. Early  kindled  fires,  that  had  been  glowing 
with  restrained  but  ever-increasing  heat  through 
the  years  of  training,  broke  out  into  flames  of  zeal 
that  astonished  even  his  saintly  companions.  They 
lit  up  or  renewed  in  innumerable  hearts  the  love  of 
God. 

Where,  it  may  be  asked,  was  the  first  spark 
of  such  a  zeal  enkindled  ?  His  own  book,  "  The 
Oxford  Movement  in  America,'7  answers  this  ques- 
tion. In  it  he  tells  us  how  every  one  who  bore  the 
name  of  missionary  was  welcomed  at  his  early 
home.  There  he  saw  his  mother  faithfully  read  the 
Missionary  Herald,  and  his  father  ask  each  day  a 
benediction  at  family  prayers  on  "  all  those  mes- 
sengers of  the  Gospel  who  carry  the  glad  tidings  of  a 
Saviour's  love  to  the  dark  and  benighted  corners 
of  the  earth."  As  a  boy  he  had  dreamed  over  again 
the  dream  of  Williamstown  farmers  who  talked  of 
foreign  missions  as  they  rested  to  the  leeward  of 
their  famous  old  haystack  in  Berkshire.  Brave, 
honest  hearts  were  theirs,  beating  high  with  an  un- 


Redemptorist  Missioner  in  America.     123 

selfish  purpose ;  but  their  stalwart  bodies  and  keen 
brains  found  scanty  shelter  from  sudden  peltings 
of  storm  and  error  behind  a  tangled  heap  of  hay  and 
heresy.  Their  horses  ate  up  the  hay,  tangles  and 
all;  their  children,  with  more  each  year  of  leisure 
and  culture,  are  apt,  some  of  them,  to  brush  ruth- 
lessly aside  with  the  dried  burrs  of  hereditary  heresy, 
only  too  many  rich  kernels  of  spiritual  truth  that 
should  give  strength  to  Christian  citizens. 

Though  Father  Walworth  brushed  away  the 
heresy  that  he  too  had  inherited,  he  never  lost  his 
early  interest  in  foreign  missions.  As  a  Protestant, 
he  heard  Mar  Yohannan's  talk  of  oriental  churches 
while  he  smoked  a  long  Turkish  pipe  on  the  old  Sara- 
toga piazza.  At  Chelsea,  again,  he  listened  to  a  mis- 
sionary's tale  of  China.  All  the  ins  and  outs  of 
"  Bishop  Southgate's  Mission "  to  Constantinople 
were  learned,  partly  at  the  same  seminary  and 
partly  from  Father  Hewit,  who  had  volunteered  for 
it  and  been  rejected  as  a  Romanizer.  It  was  Clar- 
ence Walworth  whom  the  Chelsea  students  chose  for 
president  of  their  missionary  society.  He  read  of 
Martyn  in  Persia,  of  Heber  on  "  India's  coral 
strands,"  and  of  each  and  every  hero  of  fame  in  the 
Protestant  mission  field,  not  forgetting,  of  course, 
the  achievements  of  Eliot  with  his  Bible  for  Ameri- 
can Indians.  This  was  all  familiar  ground  to  him 
before  he  ever  came  in  touch  with  the  marvelous 
mission  records  of  Roman  Catholic  literature. 
How  they  crowd  the  bookshelves  of  many  lands, 
and  are  piled  high  in  the  manuscript  closets  of  num- 
berless cloistered  retreats  !  The  "  Mother-Houses  ' 
of  two  hemispheres  can  scarce  contain  their  wealth 
of  records. 


124     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

If  ever  a  bit  of  old  Catholic  mission  history  was 
spaded  up  in  his  own  land  and  about  to  be  turned 
over  into  English  from  the  language  of  its  explorers, 
there  at  once,  if  possible,  was  Father  Walworth, 
eager  to  get  an  early  look,  ever  adding  new  informa- 
tion to  his  store  and  new  incentives  to  his  zeal. 
When  he  found  leisure  to  resume  linguistic  studies 
and  delved  into  barbarous  dialects,  it  was  less  as  a 
philologist  than  to  find  keys  with  which  to  unlock 
more  wealth  of  Catholic  mission  records.  All  this 
goes  to  prove  that  the  importance,  the  need,  the  sub- 
limity of  generous  missionary  effort  was  ground  into 
his  soul. 

When  he  began  the  preaching  of  missions  in 
America,  his  native  land,  he  appeared  in  what  was 
then  considered  the  garb  of  a  stranger.  He  had 
with  him  foreign  companions,  some  of  whom  spoke 
no  English.  He  was  very  unlike  them,  and  yet  old 
friends  were  shy  of  him.  The  path  of  the  convert 
is  ever  a  lonely  one.  But  this  made  him  all  the 
more  a  missionary.  It  caused  him  to  walk  all  the 
more  with  God.  Perhaps  in  the  popular  estima- 
tion this  very  isolation  made  him  appear  as  if  in  a 
special  way  set  apart  to  be  God's  ambassador,  Per- 
haps for  the  abandoned  souls  he  was  seeking  it  gave 
an  added  healing  to  his  touch.  At  all  events  a  mar- 
velous number  of  sinners  were  aroused  by  him  to  a 
better  life,  the  eyes  of  the  ignorant  and  prejudiced 
were  opened  to  the  light  of  Catholic  truth,  and  the 
poor  "  had  the  gospel  preached  to  them,"  with  pow- 
erful eloquence  in  the  language  of  our  vast  land  of 
freedom.  Fathers  Walworth  and  Hewit  preached 
the  great  mission  sermons  of  the  evenings  on  such 


Redemptorist  Missioner  in  America.     125 

subjects  as  Death,  Judgment,  Heaven  and  Eell.  The 
latter  became  known  as  time  went  on  by  the  name 
of  "the  old  iron-grey,"  owing  to  a  certain  weight 
and  power  with  which  he  spoke.  Father  Walworth 
was  designated  as  "  the  one  with  the  clarion  voice," 
and  Father  Hecker,  from  always  starting  the  even- 
ing service,  at  which  he  gave  an  instruction,  with 
the  recital  of  the  rosary,  was  often  called  "  Father 
Mary."  After  several  days  of  preaching,  with  daily 
attendance  of  the  people  at  the  Masses,  meditations 
and  instructions,  the  missioners  began  to  hear  con- 
fessions daily,  often  being  so  occupied  from  seven 
until  one  o'clock  in  the  day  and  again  from  four 
until  ten  at  night.  At  this  work  Father  Alexander, 
who  seldom  preached  in  English,  was  incessant  and 
seemingly  tireless.  He  was  a  short  and  slender  man 
but  strong  and  wiry.  He  could  sit  fourteen  hours 
in  the  dav  hearing  confessions  and  continue  that 
laborious  work  daily  through  a  long  mission  without 
showing  fatigue.  He,  wTith  the  three  Americans, 
gave  the  second  of  the  missions  in  English  at  Prince 
Gallitzin's  Colony  of  Loretto,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Alleghanies.  This  prince,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  the  second  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States, 
Father  Badin  of  Kentucky  being  the  first.  His  suc- 
cessor to  the  parish  of  Loretto  had  promptly  asked 
for  the  newly  arrived  missionaries.  So  thev  iour- 
neyed  by  rail  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  and 
thence  on  the  Pennsylvania  Central  to  Hollid ays- 
burg.  After  leaving  that  place  they  soon  began  to 
ascend  the  mountains  by  the  quaint  old  system  of 
inclined  planes,  with  a  stationary  engine  at  the  head 
of  each  slant  and  ropes  with  which  to  pull  up  the 


126     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

cars.  Late  at  night  they  reached  Summit,  a  station 
on  the  crest  of  the  ridge.  They  waited  in  the  sit- 
ting-room of  the  inn  there  till  the  landlord  ap- 
peared, candle  in  hand.  Father  Alexander  de- 
puted Father  Walworth  to  go  choose  the  rooms.  He 
therefore  followed  the  landlord  up  stairs  to  a  room 
with  two  beds.  In  each  bed  was  a  man  already 
asleep. 

Which  bed  will  you  take  ?  "  said  the  innkeeper. 
But   both    are    occupied,"    said    the    astonished 
priest.      "  I  prefer  neither." 

"  What !  "  said  the  other,  "  don't  you  double  ?  " 
"  "No,"  was  the  answer,  "  I  don't  double." 
"  Don't  any  of  your  friends  double  V    he  asked 
as  he  scratched  his  head  and  looked  troubled. 

"  Perhaps  you  had  better  ask  them,"  was  the 
mock-serious  answer,  and  they  turned  to  the  stairs. 
Father  Walworth  repressed  his  smile  as  they  re- 
entered the  sitting-room,  and  Father  Alexander  was 
confronted  with  the  question : 
"  Do  vou   double,   sir  ?  " 

This  was  an  intricacy  of  the  English  language  for 
which  the  good  father  was  not  prepared.  It  was 
explained  to  him,  after  which  he  said,  with  foreign 
accent,  but  decided  emphasis: 

"  ISTo,  I  do  not  double,  I  never  double." 
All  gave  the  same  answer.  The  landlord  was  in 
despair  at  this,  till  Father  Walworth  suggested  that 
if  be  could  spare  some  blankets  or  comfortables, 
they  would  be  content  with  the  large  room  they  were 
in,  where  thev  could  lie  on  the  floor.  "  Oh,  that's 
easy  enough,"  said  the  man,  and  he  brought  also 
enough  mattresses  to  make  four  good  pallets. 


Tl MDEMPTORIST   MlSSIONEK  IN    A.MKKICA.       127 

"Wal,  now,  you  air  strange  folks/'  said  he, 
"  most  of  my  lodgers  would  think  them  quarters 
rather  beneath  'em,  so  to  speak.  They  want  a  good 
bedstead  under  'em." 

"  O,  we  are  not  so  hard  to  suit,"  was  the  rejoinder. 
"  It  is  only  that  we  are  a  little  bashful  about  doub- 
ling.    This  is  first-rate." 

They  dozed  on  till  morning  and  then  drove  six 
miles  over  a  mountain  road  in  a  lumber-wagon  to 
Loretto.  The  church  was  a  plain  wooden  structure 
like  a  schoolhouse,  with  benches.  Instead  of  sta- 
tions or  pictures  of  saints,  it  was  ornamented  with 
various  warnings  against  smoking,  chewing,  or  spit- 
ting on  the  floor  and  like  attempts  to  teach  the  gospel 
of  good  manners. 

The  mission  opened  with  a  Hidi  Mass  on  Sunday 
morning.  The  farmers  came  with  their  families 
in  wagons  and  brought  lunches  with  them,  then  and 
on  each  day  of  the  mission.  Whilst  waiting  for  Mass 
to  begin  on  Sundays  the  men,  after  hitching  their 
horses  securely,  sat  around  the  sides  of  the  church 
with  their  backs  to  the  wall  and  commenced  whittl- 
ing. All  in  the  colony  attended  the  mission.  One 
man  who  hung  back  at  first  declared  that  his  old 
grandmother,  long  dead,  appeared  to  him  iu  the 
night-time  and  warned  him  to  save  his  soul  now  or 
never.  She  sat  by  the  fire,  he  said,  in  the  frilled  cap 
she  used  to  wear  in  the  old  country,  and  shook  her 
finger  at  him  as  she  spoke  the  warning  words.  He 
woke  up  his  wife,  and  she  saw  her,  too.  Another 
man  related  that  St.  Alphonsus  himself  appeared  to 
him  shortly  before  the  missioners  arrived;  when 
they  did  come  and  he  saw  them  robed  and  girded 


128     Life  Sketches  of  Fathee,  Walwokth. 

like  the  saint,  he  hastened  to  make  the  mission, 
firmly  believing  that  this  was  his  last  chance  of  sal- 
vation. 

At  the  close  of  this  mission,  a  great  cross  was 
planted  in  the  cemetery  lot  on  a  hill  where  it  was 
proposed  to  begin  the  erection  of  a  new  and  finer 
chnrch.  The  congregation  marched  to  this  spot. 
Father  Walworth  preached  a  farewell  sermon  under 
the  cross,  and  there  at  a  given  signal,  a  band  of 
Mexican  war  veterans  fired  off  a  salute  to  the  em- 
blem of  salvation.  The  effect  was  exhilarating. 
After  the  ceremony,  the  soldiers  assembled  on  a 
second  hill  and  fired  volley  after  volley  to  the  delight 
of  the  bovs  both  old  and  voting. 

After  a  hearty  hand-shaking  and  a  reluctant  fare- 
well,  the  settlers  returned  to  their  farms,  and  the 
missioners  journeyed  back  to  Hollidaysburg.  They 
opened  a  mission  there  at  St.  Mary's,  May  IS, 
1851.  When  that  was  over,  they  crossed  the  moun- 
tains to  Johnstown,  and  gave  one  there. 

It  was  at  Youngstown,  Pa.,  in  December  of  that 
year  that  they  first  tried  preaching  from  a  platform 
on  which  a  large  black  cross,  some  ten  feet  or  more 
in  height,  was  erected.  From  the  arms  of  the  cross  a 
white  muslin  cloth  was  suspended.  Previously  to 
this  they  had  erected  a  cross  out  of  doors  as  at  Lor- 
etto,  or  nearer  the  church,  but  merely  as  a  closing 
ceremony. 

In  February,  1852,  they  gave  a  mission  at  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Troy.  When  they  were  at  St. 
Joseph's  in  Albany,  at  the  old  church  on  Pearl  street, 
near  what  is  now  called  "  St.  Joseph's  Industrial 
School,"  Father  Walworth's  stepsister  made  the  mis- 


Redemptorist  Missioneb  in  Amkuica.     120 

sion  and  became  a  Catholic,  staying  several  days  at 
the  Sisters'  convent  whilst  being  prepared  for  the 
sacraments.  The  crowds  that  came  day  after  day 
seeking  admission  to  that  small  parish  church,  as  it 
was  then,  extended  far  out  into  the  streets,  especially 
when  Father  Walworth  preached,  as  his  well-modu- 
lated voice  was  clear  and  had  great  carrying  power 
even  in  a  whisper.  But  only  those  within,  of  course, 
could  see  his  gestures,  which  were  always  graceful 
and  telling,  whilst  at  times  his  action  was  start- 
lingly  dramatic.  It  seems  that  at  this  place,  he  not 
only  pointed  often  to  the  tall  black  cross  but  he 
even  clung  to  it,  till  it  swayed  back  and  forth  with 
the  weight  of  his  body,  whilst  the  people  con- 
science-stricken and  pale  with  emotion  watched  and 
listened  in  almost  breathless  silence. 

He  preached  also  at  Saratoga,  where  his  beloved 
father  came  with  the  throng  and  listened  and  won- 
dered at  the  powder  of  his  oratory.  At  Utica,  Brook- 
lyn, Detroit,  Washington,  Charleston,  Baltimore,  and 
up  among  the  quarries  and  factory  towns  of  Vermont 
they  gave  missions.  Also,  at  out  of  the  way 
places  to  the  west  they  had  to  teach  even  the 
young  priest  in  charge,  who  had  never  been  to  a  theo- 
logical seminary,  having  studied  only  under  some 
country  pastor,  how  to  go  through  services  that  are 
frequent  in  cities.  Here  and  there  in  many  States, 
they  continued  their  zealous  work.  The  American 
bishops  as  well  as  the  pastors  of  parishes,  eager  for 
missions,  became  their  fast  friends.  I  heard  Father 
Walworth  say  that  once,  there  were  many  commun- 
ions to  be  given  and  some,  to  travelers  from  miles 
away,  at  a  small  church  near  Lake  Erie,  where  there 
was  no  gold  or  silver  pyx  or  ciborium.     They  had 


130     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

only  one  small  chalice.  Ho  formed  a  temporary 
eiborium  from  wood  with  his  Yankee  pen-knife  and 
lining  the  bowl  of  it  carefully  with  a  folded  "  pnri- 
ficator,"  distributed  from  it  the  Bread  of  Angels 
without  delay  to  these  weary  wayfarers,  lest  they 
should  grow  faint  with  fasting.  One  man  after  walk- 
ing twenty  miles  to  make  his  mission  communion 
without  breaking  his  fast,  was  off  guard  at  the  last 
and  as  he  came  into  the  village  hot  and  thirsty  drank 
from  the  village  pump  near  the  church.  He  then  be- 
gan to  blame  himself  for  forgetting  and  was  in  great 
disappointment,  till  he  learned  that  on  the  next  day, 
Monday,  there  would  be  also  a  mass  and  he  could 
get  his  communion  after  all  by  waiting  for  it,  which 
he  did. 

At  the  New  Orleans  mission  Father  Alexander, 
worn  out  with  constant  labor,  quit  the  mission  field 
for  parish  work.  This  was  in  1854.  An  earnest 
youth  listened  to  Father  Walworth's  sermon  on  the 
priesthood  as  preached  in  that  city,  and  thinking  it 
over,  offered  himself  to  the  bishop  for  the  service  of 
the  altar.  That  youth  was  James  Gibbons  now  the 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  beloved  of  all  the 
land.  Father  Walworth  did  not  know  how  the  seed 
of  the  divine  word,  he  had  scattered,  fell  thus  into 
"good  ground,"  until  he  sent  his  volume  of  poems, 
"  Andiatorocte,"  to  the  cardinal.  At  that  time  he 
was  made  very  happy  by  receiving  in  answer,  a  note 
of  thanks,  stating  the  above  fact  in  a  few  simple 
words.  In  1902,  the  writer  of  these  biographical 
sketches  was  with  her  mother  in  a  Baltimore  book- 
store when  they  were  recognized  and  accosted  by 
Cardinal   Gibbons   in  his   own  gentle   and   gracious 


Redemptorist  Missioned  in  America.     131 

manner.  On  this  occasion,  he  again  alluded  to  the 
above-mentioned  fact,  saying  that  he  owed  his  voca- 
tion to  a  sermon  which  Father  Walworth  preached 
at  ISJew  Orleans. 

In  a  rectorv  at  Cincinnati,  after  a  mission  ser- 
mon,  Father  Walworth,  sought  an  introduction  to 
dear  old  Father  Badin,  the  first  priest  ordained  in 
the  United  States,  a  pupil  of  the  Maryland  Sul- 
picians,  and  the  pioneer  priest  of  Kentucky.  TTis 
mission  reached  far  and  wide  through  the  wilderness, 
and  his  back  was  bent  Avith  many  years  of  apos- 
tolic labor.  The  young  Redemptorist  knelt  reverently 
before  him  asking  his  blessing.  "  ~No,  no,  no,"  said 
Father  Badin,  drawing  away  abashed,  at  this  obei- 
sance, "  I  cannot  do  that.  The  bishop  will  bless  you 
again." 

"  But  you  have  been  so  long  a  missionary  and  I 
am  only  beginning.  I  have  been  looking  forward  to 
it,  and  now  I  must  have  it,"  said  he,  taking  the  old 
priest's  hand  and  raising  it  over  his  head.  "  Surely 
you  will  not  deny  me  a  blessing."  Urged  also  by  the 
others  present  to  comply,  Father  Badin  put  his  hand 
on  the  bowed  head,  saying  slowly: 

"  Father  Walworth,  may  you  do  all  the  good  you 
tell  other  people  to  do." 

To  him,  it  was  the  valued  blessing  of  a  true  pioneer 
apostle  of  the  faith  for  such  to  his  mind  was  Father 
Badin.  He,  himself,  was  a  pioneer  in  America,  of 
a  different  method  of  preaching,  one  directed  rather 
to  the  arousing  than  to  the  planting  of  the  faith  and 
was  thus  a  true  foundation  stone,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
modern  parish  missions  in  English. 


132     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

But  why  use  halting  words  here  when  the  elo- 
quent  ones  of  Rev.  Walter  Elliott,  C.  S.  P.,*  spoken 
in  Albany,  March  21,  1901,  and  printed  in  the 
Catholic  World  of  the  following  June,  as  part  of 
his  panegyric  of  Father  Walworth,  so  well  describe 
the  special  traits  and  strong  effects  of  his  preaching? 
Let  this  able  veteran  of  parish  missions  in  English 
speak  once  more  for  their  pioneer. 

He,  too,  has  broken  new  ground  in  organizing  the 
missions  to  non-Catholics,  and  opened  up  new  roads 
through  old  forests  of  colonial  prejudice.  He 
approaches  our  present  subject  boldly,  throwing 
upon  it  the  keen  search-light  of  a  two-fold  experi- 
ence.    These  are  his  words : 

"  On  landing  in  America  in  1851,  Father  Wal- 
worth at  once  displayed  the  powers  of  a  great  mission- 
ary. The  band  gave  missions  all  over  the  country  and 
in  several  cities  of  Canada,  Father  Walworth  every- 
where reaping  a  great  harvest  of  penitent  souls.  It 
is  literally  true  that  many  a  time,  they  who  came 
to  scoff  remained  to  pray,  aye,  and  what  is  infinitely 
more,  remained  to  confess  their  sins  with  sobs 
of  grief.  The  most  abandoned  wretches  were 
melted  into  tears  of  penance  under  Father  Wal- 
worth's preaching.  His  voice  was  marvelous.  It 
was  of  medium  pitch,  clear,  musical,  but  it  had  a 
quality  of  its  own;  it  was  wonderfully  winged  as  if 
with  a  preternatural  magnetism.  His  sermons  cut 
to  the  division  of  the  soul  and  the  spirit.  His  man- 
ner, though  unaffected,  was  vet  full  of  dipjiitv.  Sel- 
dom   was  a  preacher  so  eloquent  by   his  looks   and 


*  Sop    in    lost    pages   of   this   book,    the   Argus    report:     "Father 
Elliott's   Tribute." 


Redemptorist  Missioneb  i.\  America.      L33 

bearing  as  was  Father  Walworth;  and  his  action  on 
the  platform  was  a  perfect  match  for  his  great 
themes,  his  ringing  voice  and  his  well-chosen  matter. 
If  one  can  make  the  distinction,  he  was  dramatic 
without  being  theatrical.  Meanwhile  his  sermons 
were  models  of  missionary  composition.  Although 
he  was  steadfast  in  his  loyalty  to  the  traditions  of 
St.  Alphonsus,  he  nsed  the  liberty  kindred  to  that 
supreme  missionary's  spirit  in  preparing  his  dis- 
courses. He  suited  his  choice  of  matter  to  the 
times  and  the  people,  yet  without  departing  from 
the  sound  forms  of  previous  generations  of  mission- 
aries. But  he  could  drive  the  fear  of  God  into  sin- 
ners' souls  with  more  resistless  force  than,  perhaps, 
any  missionary  we  ever  had  in  America.  His  ser- 
mons broke  the  adamantine  crust  of  self-assurance 
which  vice  had  formed  over  the  sinners'  hearts  like 
an  egg-shell. 

"  His  voice  was  the  best  preaching  voice  I  ever 
heard.  Father  Walworth  had  a  voice  that  could  stop 
an  army;  but  he  had  a  heart  of  grace  to  inspire  his 
tones  with  priestly  tenderness.  He  could  both  af- 
fright sinners  and  soothe  their  despairing*  spirits 
with  that  organ  of  many  strains.  We  have  empha- 
sized his  imperious  power  over  his  hearers,  but  it 
should  be  known  that  if  he  vanquished  the  sinner, 
he  did  not  fail  to  win  him.  The  effect  was  religious 
fear  not  slavish  terror.  The  psalmist's  words  describe 
it:  'All  my  bones  shall  say,  who  is  like  unto  the 
Lord  ? '  We  might  add  the  words  of  the  bride  in 
the  Canticle:  'My  heart  melted  when  he  spoke/ 
To  be  afraid  under  his  preaching  was  to  be  afraid 
of  God  not  of  the  preacher.  Xor  would  the  most 
panic-stricken  of  Walworth's  converted  sinners  dread 


134     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

to  go  to  him  to  confession.  The  most  abandoned 
wretches  after  sitting  under  his  preaching,  pale  and 
nerveless  with  terror,  would  often  enter  his  confes- 
sional by  preference.  They  had  felt  something  of 
love  vibrating  amid  the  commanding  tones  of  that 

•  ii.  if.  if. 

voice.     *     " 

"  Father  Walworth  had  the  true  standpoint  of  a 
missionary.  He  not  only  knew  but  he  vividly  real- 
ized that  he  stood  for  God.  He  was  thrilled  with 
the  conviction  that  men's  immortal  destiny  depended 
on  how  fitly  he  represented  God's  rights  to  their 
sinful  souls.  It  is  this  state  of  mind,  this  mental, 
or  rather  this  spiritual,  attitude  that  really  makes  the 
missionary.  It  made  Walworth  an  ideal  one.  He 
impressed  the  sinners  not  so  much  as  an  advocate  as 
an  ambassador  of  Christ,  an  ambassador  bearing  the 
Divine  ultimatum.  This  sense  of  standing  for  God 
did  infinitelv  more  for  his  success  than  the  noble 
beauty  of  his  face  and  form,  his  splendid  rhetoric, 
the  amazing  strength  of  action  in  his  delivery.  His 
tones  were  the  perfection  of  human  vocal  power  but 
they  rang  with  a  more  than  human  power  in  the 
service  of  a  heart  inspired  as  his  was.  By  the  exhi- 
bition of  this  supernatural  motive  it  was  that  many 
were  led  to  say  that  they  never  knew  a  man  who  had 
so  fully  assimilated  the  rules  of  the  divine  art  of 
winning  sinful  souls  to  God,  as  Father  Walworth." 

Some  of  his  mission  sermons,  in  manuscript,  were 
made  up  of  brief  notes  and  abbreviations;  others 
were  more  fully  worded ;  they  cover  a  wide  range  of 
subjects.  One  is  "  On  the  Seventh  Command- 
ment "  and  has  a  marked  individuality  of  its  own, 
especially  owing  to  the  "  List  of  40  Thieves,"  that 


Redemptorist  Missioner  in  America.     135 

accompanied  it.  This  list  consisted  of  a  strip  of 
paper  four  inches  wide  and  about  two  yards  long, 
on  which  he  had  written  forty  groups  of  thieves,  the 
description  of  each  class  occupying  from  two  to 
twelve  lines.  It  caused  considerable  interest  to  his 
auditors  when  he  gradually  unfolded  this  paper,  let- 
ting it  drop  down  over  the  pulpit  till  it  hung  like  a 
wide  ribbon  from  his  hands  as  he  concluded  the  read- 
ing of  it.  Much  amused  were  the  people,  as  he 
started  off  with  the  petty  thieves  thus:  "  1.  Hen 
thieves,  duck  thieves,  goose  and  turkey  thieves,  pig 
thieves"  which  with  others  in  the  next  group  includ- 
ing purse-lifters,  he  called  "  out-and-out  thieves ;" 
but  there  were  always  plenty  of  serious  faces  before 
the  other  end  of  the  long  roll  came  in  view.  All  kinds 
of  service,  domestic  and  clerical,  all  varieties  of  busi- 
ness, crafts  and  professions,  were  reached  in  due 
course  as  conducted  on  land  and  on  sea,  till  the  ex- 
amination of  conscience  became  general  throughout 
his  audience.  He  mercilessly  clubbed  the  unwary 
sinners  before  him  according  to  their  degrees  by  such 
names  as  nibblers,  house-mice,  shop-mice,  church- 
mice,  water-rats,  cheats,  including  dishonest  debtors 
and  a  pack  of  ordinary  thieves ;  then  came  the  craw- 
fish, the  rodentia;  and,  finally,  the  magnificent 
swindlers,  all  held  up  to  view  under  the  term  Pachy- 
dermata  or  hard-skinners.  He  concluded  his  list 
with  all  cheats  of  higher  rank,  those  unfaithful 
whether  more  or  less  to  the  most  honorable  of  trusts, 
in  civic,  financial,  legal  and  legislative  careers.  But 
the  sermon  itself  he  concluded,  after  a  thrilling  ap- 
peal for  justice  and  especially  to  the  poor,  with  the 
story  of  Zacheus  who  restored  four  fold,  before  har- 
boring the  Lord  Jesus. 


136     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Another  sermon  is  entitled,  "  The  Excellence  of 
the  Priesthood/'  This  is  not  a  usual  subject  for  a 
mission.  It  must  have  been  evoked  by  the  presence, 
in  the  congregation  addressed,  of  souls  already  well- 
trained  in  faith  and  morals  who  gave  uncommon 
promise  of  an  abundant  spiritual  harvest.  There  is 
nothing  about  the  manuscript  notes  to  show  where 
this  sermon  was  first  preached,  but  there  is  reason 
to  believe  it  was  used  with  great  effect  at  Xew 
Orleans.  It  is  a  good  example  of  his  method  of  pre- 
paring a  subject,  when  time  was  not  wanting  and 
eyesight  was  good.  The  handwriting  in  this  case  is 
small,  round  and  upright ;  as  even  as  print,  as  clear 
and  fine  as  copperplate  engraving.  The  words  are 
closely  written  on  a  sheet  of  commercial  note,  with 
two  lines  of  his  to  every  one  that  was  ruled  by  the 
stationer.  Perhaps  he  wrote  it  thus,  that  he  might 
carry  it  with  him  to  the  pulpit.  But,  oh !  for  the 
wave  of  "  a  vanished  hand,  and  the  sound  of  a  voice 
that  is  still !  "  —  for  the  surf-like  recurrence  of 
weighty  arguments  rolling  onto  the  soul  like  an  in- 
coming tide;  the  eagle  glance,  the  winning  smile,  the 
majesty  of  his  presence,  the  magnetism  of  his  sym- 
pathy !  These  are  with  us  no  more.  These  would 
put  life  and  the  throb  of  oratory  into  what  is  here 
left,  the  mere  structural  dry-bones  of  a  great  sermon ! 
Even  so,  they  can  yet  give  us  some  food  for  thought, 
and  indicate  the  general  outline  of  the  argument. 
Since  it  was  a  sermon  of  his  that  determined  the 
priestly  vocation  of  Cardinal  Gibbons,  what  other 
could  it  be  than  this  one  ? 


Redemptobist  Mjssionek  i.\  America.     137 
the  excellence  of  the  priesthood. 

"As  long  as  I  am  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  f  will  honor 
my  ministry,  if  by  any  means,  1  may  provoke  to  emulation 
those  who  are  my  flesh." —  Rom.  xi.  13. 

There  is  one  branch  of  service  in  the  army  wli.  is  cer- 
tainly a  very  important  one.  It  is  that  of  a  recruiting  officer. 
(Describe  his  duly.)  It  is  in  this  same  spirit  that  the 
Apostle  speaks  in  the  text.  As  a  commanding  officer  in  the 
army  of  the  cross,  he  looks  about  him  for  recruits,  &  not 
out  of  self-respect,  but  for  the  glory  of  his  Master,  &  the 
success  of  the  Church's  holy  war,  he  seeks  to  muster  recruits 
—  new  soldiers  —  under  the  banner  of  the  cross,  into  the 
sacred  ministry.  Was  there  ever  a  time  when  the  Church, 
when  our  country  more  needed  Priests  —  good  ones,  true 
warriors,  &c?  Permit  me  then  to  "honor  my  ministry"  this 
morning,  that  if  possible,  "1  may  provoke  to  emulation" 
those  who  are  of  my  flesh,  cGc. 

I.     Dignitas  Sacerdotii. 

St.  Ambrose  preaching  on  the  Priesthood  calls  it  "  a  divine 
profession."    Is  it  not!     The  Priest  is 

1st.  (The  Ambassador  of  God.)  An  ambassador  is  an  officer 
of  a  State  or  Prince,  sent  out  to  represent  his  Sovereign 
abroad.  "  We  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,  God  as  it  were 
exhorting  by  us.  2  Cor.  v.  20.  I  remember,  &c.  (Frescoes  of 
Moses  and  St.  Paul,  St.  Vincent's,  Canal  St.)  How  appro- 
priate they  appeared  in  such  a  place!  &  how  grand!  To 
either,  one  could  well  apply  those  majestic  words  of  a  poetess 
of  our  day: 

"  His  eyes  were  dreadful,  for  you  saw 
That  they  saw  God  —  his  lip  and  jaw 
Grand-made  and  strong,  as  Sinai's  Law, — 
And  his  broio's  height  was  sovereign." 

They  were  only  mute  frescoes,  &  yet  they  spoke  right  elo- 
quently. "  We  are  ambassadors  for  Christ,"  they  said,  "  God, 
as  it  were,  exhorting  by  us." 

The  Ambassador  represents  his  Sovereign  —  his  person  & 
his  will.     And  therefore,  according  to  the  Law  of  Nations,  &c. 


138     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

So  in  the  Law  of  Christ,  "  qui  vos  audit,  me  audit;  qui  vos 
spcrnit  me  spermt."  How  much  more  blessed  &  exalted  to 
be  Ambassador  of  God!  What  are  princes  and  nations  com- 
pared to  Him?     "0 mnes  gentes  quasi  non  sint  coram  eo." 

2nd.  (The  Minister  of  the  Sacrifice.)  This  is  the  chief  func- 
tion of  the  Priest.  Look  around  this  church  &  tell  me 
which  is  the  part  where  the  Priest  belongs, —  is  most  the 
Priest's?  Your  eyes  turn  to  the  altar.  There  is  one  part 
of  the  church  set  off,  where  the  Laity  do  not  enter,  &  all 
who  do  —  approach  silently  &  with  awe.  We  seem  to  hear 
the  voice  of  God:  "  Take  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for,"  &c. 
It  is  the  place  of  sacrifice.  We  have  there  a  victim  to  offer. 
Who  shall  offer?  One  of  you?  No,  you  could  not.  "Nee 
quis  quam  sumit  sibi,"  &c.  He  would  not  come  at  your  call. 
But  the  Priest  approaches  &  at  his  voice,  &c.  No  wonder 
that  St.  Augustine  exclaims:  "O!  veneranda  Sacerdotum  dig- 
nit  as!  in  quorum  manibus  Dei  Filius  veluti  in  utero  Virginia 
incarnatur :"     Horn.  2  on  Ps.  32. 

I  need  not  dwell  on  this.  You  all  feel  the  dignity  of  the 
Priesthood.  The  faithful  Priest  will  never  have  reason  to 
complain,  &c. —  But  if  there  is  anything  above  all  others  cal- 
culated to  draw  forth  the  deep  feeling  of  veneration  which 
every  Catholic,  &c, —  it  is  the  spectacle  of  a  bad  Priest. 
How !  what !  —  Yes ;  otherwise,  what  is  the  meaning  of  that 
shudder  —  that  electric  thrill  of  horror  ?  It  is  no  sign  of 
irreverence.  Oh!  no,  the  contrary.  It  is  your  testimony  to 
the  dignity  &  sanctity  of  the  Priestly  office.  At  the  mere 
thought  of  such  a  thing,  the  language  of  the  Prophet  Isaias 
rises  to  the  heart:  "  In  terra  88.  iniqua  gessit."  He  has 
sinned  in  the  Holy  place!     "Non  videbit  gl.  Dei." 

If  there  be  in  this  concourse,  a  parent  who  nourishes  the 
secret  hope  to  see,  &c. —  It  is  a  good  desire.  But  if  that 
child  be  not  holy,  if  he  be  grown  up  in  vice  —  Oh !  speak  not 
of  it!  Think  not  of  it!  Set  your  whole  soul  against  it;  pray 
rather  that  the  Earth  may  open,  &e. —  Would  you  have  it 
said  of  him:  "In  terra  Sanctorum  —  non  videbit?" 


Redemptobist  Missioneb  in  Amebica.     139 

II. —  Utilitas  Sacerdotii. 

St.  Jerome  calls  it  ''Angelica  Dignitas."  And  so  it  is.  For 
what  are  the  angels?  "Are  they  not  all  spirits,  sent  to 
minister  for  those  who  shall  receive  the  inheritance  of  salva- 
tion f  "     Heb.  1.  14.     Why,  see  them  at  work! 

1st. —  {Penance.)  See  him  in  the  Sacred  Tribunal!  The  hurt 
child  runs  to  hide  his  griefs  in  his  father's  bosom.  So  the 
hurt  sinner,  &c.  And  why  there?  Because  the  power  of  par- 
don is  there.  Ah!  the  Utilitarians!  They  talk  of  nothing 
but  utility.  Principle  is  nothing — right,  truth,  justice  & 
God.  Well  go  try  to  be  useful  to  that  heavy-hearted  Sinner! 
You  will  do  him  no  good.  He  wants  you  not.  He  will  say 
to  you,  as  Macbeth  to  his  physician: 

"Say,  canst  thou  minister  to  a  mind  diseased! 
Pluck  from   the  memory  a  rooted  sorroic: 
Cleanse  the  full  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff, 
Which  weighs  upon  the  heart?" 

No!  There  is  only  one  ear  can  hear  that  secret,  one  breast  be 
the  confidant  of  that  sorrow,  one  hand  can  pluck  away  that 
thorn,  one  voice  can  cheer  that  drooping  soul.  It  is  the  voice 
of  the  Priest  which  alone  can  say:  "Ego  te  absolvo."  Is  there 
utility  here? 

2nd. —  [The  Pulpit.)  How  necessary  is  good  counsel?  A 
friendly  but  truthful  voice  that  will  not  natter.  Where  will 
you  find  it,  &c. —  But  the  pulpit  is  the  Throne  of  Truth.  You 
wish  it  to  be  so,  however  unpalatable.  [If  I  were  to  put  it 
to  vote — !  "Oh!  let  us  have  one  place,  where  God's  truth 
is  spoken  without  fear."]  Is  it  not  a  blessed  thing  to  have 
one  such  truthful  oracle,  where  the  Orator  is  not  expected  to 
flatter,  and  dares  to  blame?  "Labia  enim  Sacerdotis  cus- 
todient  scicntiam,  et  Legem  requirent  ex  ore  ejus,  quia  An- 
gelus  Dei  exercituum  est."  Mai.  II.  7.  They  will  not  find  fault 
with  him  for  speaking  plainly.  Oh!  never  till  we  hear  the 
Records  of  the  Judgment  shall  we  know  how  many  souls  have 
thus  been  brought  to  God! 

( Conclusion. ) 

Is  it  not  a  blessed  office!  Can  there  be  a  higher,  holier, 
more  useful,  nobler  vocation?  My  Brethren,  in  this  country 
we  need   Priests.     Here  &  now,   if  ever.     But  we  need  good 


140      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

ones  only;  priest s  trained  to  virtue  &  high  morality  in 
their  Father's  house,  priests  reared  by  a  pious  Mother's  hand. 
Families  in  which  low  vices  reign,  cursing  &  blasphemy  & 
righting  &  intemperance.  &  gambling;  where  prayer  is 
seldom  heard  &  religious  duties  are  neglected: — these  are 
not  the  nurseries  of  good  Priests;  for  it  is  hard  to  have  a 
higher  standard  of  morality  &  piety  than  that  in  which  we 
have  been  reared.  To  whom  then  shall  we  appeal  for  re- 
cruits to  the  clergy":  To  you,  Fathers  &  Mothers,  whose 
children  have  been  reared  amidst  prayers  and  tears,  holy 
precepts  &  example,  &  unwearied  solicitudes!  You  have 
reared  them  for  God ;  give  them  to  God,  when  he  needs  them 
most  —  now  &  here:  now  when  the  harvest  is  so  great  & 
the  laborers  are  so  few.  Christian  Mothers!  will  you  be  out- 
done bv  worldlv  women? — [Ex.:  Mothers  during  this  war: 
"My  Son.'  see  there  your  country's  flag!  Take  just  a 
Mothers  kiss.  &  then  fjo  <1<>  your  duty!'']  So  Christian 
Mothers.  &c. — 

And  you,  My  Brethren,  who  have  no  children  to  give  —  give 
your  prayers!  Do  you  not  wish  for  an  active  &  zealous 
priesthood?  Pray  that  we  may  be  so.  [Ex. :  The  song,  "  So- 
garth  Aroon."]  Oh!  if  you  love  God;  if  you  love  the  church; 
if  you  love  the  triumph  of  Christ's  holy  cause ;  if  you  love 
to  hear  of  sinners  converted  to  God,  unbelievers  brought  into 
the  fold:  if  vou  love  vour  own  souls — Pray  for  us!  " 


VIII. 

ONE  OF  THE  PAULIST  FATHERS. 
A  Remarkable  Cluster  of  Converts. 

One  day  when  Father  Walworth  was  at  the  Re- 
demptorist  convent  in  Baltimore,  he  was  accosted  by 
a  tall,  erect  young  officer  in  the  uniform  of  the  regu- 
lar army.  His  eyes  were  keen  and  dark,  of  the 
kind  that  could  look  both  stern  and  gentle.  At  that 
moment,  he  was  gazing  with  frank  interest  at  the 
face  and  garb  of  the  American  Redemptorist  before 
him,  and  at  the  large  crucifix  in  his  girdle.  Then  he 
spoke,  saying  he  had  come  to  see  one  of  the  fathers 
whom  he  named.  He  asked  where  and  when  he 
could  be  seen. 

Father  Walworth  gave  him  this  information  and 
soon  learned  that  their  military  visitor  was  George 
Deshon,  Lieutenant  Ordnance,  U.  S.  A.,  who  had 
come  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  Congregation  of 
St.  Alphonsus.  He  had  been  recently  received  into 
the  Catholic  Church  by  the  Jesuits,  and  wished  to 
become  a  priest. 

"But  how  is  it,  Lieutenant,"  said  Father  Wal- 
worth, whose  propensity  to  get  at  bottom  facts 
had  long  since,  as  we  have  seen,  won  him  the  title 
from  Belgian  comrades  of  Brother  Pourquoi, — ';  how 
is  it  that  the  Jesuits  did  not  keep  you  for  their  own 
novitiate,  when  once  they  had  made  you  a  Catholic? 
They  would  surely  appreciate  the  educational  ad- 
vantages you  had  at  West  Point  ?  Did  you  tell  them 
you  intended  to  become  a  priest  ?  " 


142     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  answer,  "  and  they  were  willing 
to  receive  me  on  trial  as  a  novice.  It  is  a  fine  order. 
I  like  them  very  much.  But  it  is  not  the  order  for 
me." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  Because  the  Jesuits  teach.  They  have  so  many 
colleges  they  would  put  me  to  teaching  the  first 
thing.  I  have  done  some  of  that  already  at  West 
Point,  since  I  graduated.  I  want  to  be  a  priest, — 
not  to  teach  students,  but  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
people ;  and  that,  as  I  understand  it,  is  what  you  Re- 
demptorists  are  doing  all  the  time,  isn't  it  ? ' 

"  Yes,"  said  Father  Walworth,  "  there  is  no  doubt 
about  that."  And  so  this  comrade  and  roommate 
of  General  Ulysses  S.  Grant  decided  to  become  a  Re- 
clemptorist,  being  destined  later  to  serve  in  his  turn 
as  Superior-General  of  the  Paulists. 

Father  Hewit  tells  us  in  his  Memoir  of  Rev. 
Francis  A.  Baker,  of  an  eventful  meeting  of  two 
other  converts  wTho  were  Paulists  founders,  in  that 
very  same  convent  of  the  Redemptorists  at  Balti- 
more. It  was  the  day  Father  Baker  resigned  the 
Episcopal  parish  of  St.  Luke  in  that  city  and  be- 
came a  Catholic,  These  are  Father  Hewit's  words : 
"After  a  long  and  consoling  conversation  with  the 
Archbishop,  he  came  over  to  St.  Alphonsus'  Church 
which  is  near  the  Cathedral,  to  see  me.  I  was  mak- 
ing a  retreat  that  day  (April  5,  1853)  and  was 
walking  in  the  garden,  when  a  message  was  sent 
me  by  the  rector  to  go  to  the  parlor  to  see  Mr. 
Baker.  As  soon  as  he  saw  me,  he  said  abruptly,  '  I 
have  come  to  be  one  of  you.'  I  invited  him  inside 
the  enclosure,  and  he  fancying  I  misunderstood  his 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathers.  143 

words  to  imply  that  he  was  ready  to  join  our  re- 
ligious congregation,  answered  quickly,  '  I  do  not 
mean  that  I  wish  to  become  a  Redemptorist,  but  a 
Catholic'  '  I  understand  that/  I  replied ;  '  let  us 
go  to  the  oratory  and  recite  a  Te  Deum  of  thanks- 
giving.' We  did  so,  and  then  walked  in  the  garden 
together  for  a  short  time.  The  first  time  I  ever  saw 
an  expression  of  real  joyfulness  in  his  countenance 
was  then.  He  was  always  placid,  but  never,  so  far 
as  I  could  see,  joyous,  before  he  became  a  Catholic. 
To  my  great  surprise,  he  chose  me  as  his  confessor. 
I  left  the  time  of  his  reception  to  himself,  and  he 
chose  Saturday,  the  9th  of  April,  which  was  the 
anniversary  of  the  death  of  his  brother  Alfred.  On 
Saturday  morning,  I  said  Mass  in  the  little  chapel 
of  the  Orphan  Asylum  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 
Father  Hecker,  who  was  present  on  account  of  the 
approaching  mission,  accompanied  me  to  the  chapel. 
After  Mass,  Mr.  Baker  made  his  profession,  accord- 
ing to  the  old  form,  containing  the  full  creed  of 
Pius  IV,  and  I  received  him  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Church.  No  others  were  present  besides  the  good 
sisters  and  their  little  children.  .     April 

17,  he  was  confirmed  in  the  Cathedral  by  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick,  and  received  his  first  communion 
from  his  hand. 

"  The  conversion  of  Mr.  Baker  made  a  great  sen- 
sation in  Baltimore,  and  wherever  he  was  known." 

He  soon  decided  to  become  a  Bedemptorist  and,  in 
1856,  he  and  Father  Deshon  received  directions  to 
join  the  other  three  Americans  in  giving  missions. 
Here  then  we  have  in  united  action  the  original 
band  of  Paulist  founders,  five  converts  trained  under 


144     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

the  rule  of  St.  Alphonsus.  In  the  winter  of  1850, 
before  the  old  plantation  days  were  disturbed  by 
civil  war,  they  were  all  to  be  seen  together,  preach- 
ing a  great  mission  at  the  Savannah  Cathedral.  At 
that  time,  as  Father  Hewit  informs  us  in  his  Memoir 
of  Father  Baker,  the  southern  towns  received  the 
debris  of  foreign  immigration,  and  were  filled  in 
winter  by  a  floating  population  of  northern  laborers. 
Thus  it  happened  that  Savannah,  that  beautiful  city 
of  parks  and  homes,  had  suburbs  crowded  with 
drinking-shops,  sailors'  boarding-houses  and  dens  of 
thieves  and  smugglers.  The  missionaries  divided 
the  city  into  five  different  districts  each  taking  one. 
They  visited  alJ,  even  unto  the  most  uncanny  nooks 
and  corners,  announcing  the  mission,  and  gathering 
in  the  sinners. 

Father  Walworth  has  described  to  the  author  of 
these  sketches  a  dram-shop  scene  in  which  he 
figured  on  this  occasion.  He  had  permission  from 
the  proprietor  of  a  certain  den  of  iniquity,  won  by 
persuasive  words,  to  announce  the  preaching  hours 
to  its  patrons.  As  he  concluded  a  brief  summary  of 
what  the  exercises  at  the  Cathedral  would  be  and  was 
giving  an  urgent  invitation  to  those  present  to  be  on 
hand,  a  half-drunken  fellow,  with  a  wink  at  his  pals 
who  were  following  his  lead,  came  threatening] y 
toward  him,  using  abusive  words.  Before  their  mis- 
chief had  time  to  brew,  the  observant  missioner 
stepped  quickly  to  the  bar  and  gave  it  a  thump  that 
made  the  glasses  jump  mid  jingle.  Then  he  said  in 
that  clear  ringing  voice  of  his,  as  he  faced  the  whole 
roomful  and  singled  out  with  his  keen  eyes  a  brawny 
son  of  Erin:  "  I  want  to  know  if  a  Catholic  priest 
has  anv  friends  here." 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathers.  145 

"  Yes,  Father,  Fm  one,"  said  the  young  Irish- 
man, doubling  up  his  list  as  he  came  forward  and 
planted  himself  in  front  of  the  obtruder:  "Stand 
off,  you  blackguard,"  he  continued,  "  have  you  no 
respect  for  his  Reverence  V 

"  And  so  am  I,"  said  another. 

"  And  I,"  said  a  third,  a  hitherto  silent  observer 
who  stood  in  the  doorway.  "  I'm  no  Catholic,  but 
I've  seen  a  man  die  happier  for  having  a  priest  by 
him.  Now,  sir,  if  you'll  please  to  tell  us  a  little  more 
about  it  than  I  was  able  to  hear  while  that  uncivil 
fellow  was  interrupting,  I'll  see  if  I  can't  be  there. 
I'd  like  to  hear  that  sermon  of  yours." 

The  tide  was  turned.  He  had  a  respectful  hearing 
as  long  as  he  chose  to  address  them,  and  the  major- 
ity promised  to  be  at  the  Cathedral  on  the  coming 
Sunday,  for  the  opening  of  the  mission. 

As  to  the  result  of  these  painstaking  efforts, 
Father  Hewit  adds :  "  I  had  a  good  opportunity  to 
judge  of  its  permanent  fruits  when  two  years  after- 
ward I  returned  there  and  went  through  the  same 
quarters  of  the  town  where  we  had  gone  to  drum  up 
the  people  to  the  mission,  in  making  a  collection  for 
the  new  congregation  of  St.  Paul.  Many  of  the 
poorest  dwellings  I  found  neat  and  orderly;  the 
pious  pictures  blessed  during  the  mission  hanging 
upon  the  walls ;  the  children  clean  and  tidy ;  some- 
times an  old  man  sitting1  at  the  door  reading  the 
mission-book ;  the  wives  and  mothers  evidently  cheer- 
ful and  contented,  the  best  sign  that  their  husbands 
were  sober  and  kind ;  the  expressions  of  grateful  re- 
membrance of  the  mission,  warm  and  frequent ;  the 
signs  of  moral  improvement  everywhere,  and  the 
church  crowded  on  Sunday." 


146     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

The  missionaries  then  divided  into  two  bands  for 
the  smaller  parishes  of  the  diocese.  Father  Wal- 
worth went  to  Macon,  Columbus  and  Atlanta,  he 
and  his  companion  rejoining  the  other  three  at 
Charleston,  where  crowds  gathered  into  the  Cathe- 
dral to  hear  them.  In  a  letter,  December  31,  1856, 
to  a  Catholic  paper  in  Charleston  from  a  non- 
Catholic  of  Macon,  it  was  said :  "  A  number  of 
Protestant  gentlemen  called  upon  Mr.  Walworth  yes- 
terday, and  urgently  requested  him  to  deliver  one 
more  sermon  before  his  departure,  which  he  con- 
sented to  do  this  evening." 

Thus  the  work  of  breaking  down  prejudice  went 
ever  on  simultaneously  with  the  gathering  in  of 
abandoned  sinners.  "  In  our  judgment,"  wrote 
Father  Elliott,  in  his  Life  of  Father  Hecker,  "  those 
men  were  a  band  of  missionaries,  the  like  of  whom 
have  not  served  the  great  cause  among  the  English- 
speaking  races  these  recent  generations." 

Meanwhile,  Father  Hecker  had  written  two  books, 
the  "  Questions  of  the  Soul,"  and  the  "  Aspirations 
of  Nature,"  and  Father  Walworth  had  edited  a 
prayer  book  in  English,  "  The  Mission  Book,"  which 
was  the  one  Father  Hewit  saw  in  use  at  Savannah 
in  1858.  Chancellor  Walworth  had  received  a  letter 
from  his  elder  son,  dated  June  20,  1853,  in  which 
he  wrote :  "I  am  now  at  New  York,  where  I  am 
come  to  superintend  the  publication  of  a  book  of 
prayer.  This  will  keep  me  here  some  four  or  five 
weeks,  if  not  longer.  *.     I  was  not  able  to 

see  Eliza  during  her  visit  to  Baltimore  lately.  Mr. 
Backus  left  a  card  at  our  house  with  his  name  and 
hers,  but  I  was  in  the  seminary  giving  a  retreat  to 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathers.  147 

the  priests  of  the  diocese,  which  kept  me  incessantly 
occupied  during  the  whole  day.  I  wrote  him  a  note 
asking  how  long  they  would  stay,  hut  received 
answer  that  they  were  going  the  next  morning.  I 
would  have  visited  them  very  gladly.  I  suppose 
mother  told  you  all  about  the  flying  visit  she  made 
at  Baltimore.'' 

This  was  the  stepmother,  to  whom  he  and  his 
brother  became  much  attached,  and  who  afterward 
became  a  Catholic.  But  this  conversion  in  the  fire- 
side circle  did  not  take  place  till  an  entire  page  of 
birth  and  baptismal  records  of  Catholic  Walworths 
had  been  entered  in  a  Sadlier's  Douay  Bible,  the 
family  record  of  which  begins  thus:  "  Mansfield  T. 
Walworth,  married  to  Ellen  Hardin  July  29th, 
1852,  by  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth,  C.  S.  S.  E.  at  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y."  A 
daughter  of  this  marriage,  a  namesake  and  god- 
child of  Father  Walworth,  christened  Clara  Teresa, 
was  destined  for  the  religious  life.  She  entered  the 
Order  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  in  due  time  made 
her  vows  at  the  Kenwood  novitiate  near  Albany,  in 
the  presence  of  her  godfather  and  other  relatives. 
The  happiness  and  usefulness  of  this  niece  in  her 
chosen  vocation  was  in  the  coming  years  to  be 
counted  among  the  sunset  joys  of  his  life. 

During  his  missionary  career  as  Redemptorist  and 
Paulist,  in  all  about  fifteen  years,  he  occasionally 
visited  Saratoga,  but  not  often  enough  to  suit  his 
father's  wishes.  In  one  of  his  letters  home,  he  thus 
excuses  himself  in  a  semi-humorous  way: 

My  Dear  Father  —  I  must  apologize  for  not  answering 
immediately  your  very  welcome  letter.  It  found  me,  however, 
in  the  midst  of  a  laborious  retreat,  which  is  just  ended.     I 


148     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

not  only  know  but  feel  that  it  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  met 
friends  so  very  dear  to  me  as  those  who  still  cling  about  the 
old  homestead,  but  you  know  something  of  my  circumstances. 
You  know  how  it  is  when  a  young  man  marries  an  old  wife 
(mine  is  now  eighteen  centuries  old,  and  far  gone  in  her  nine- 
teenth.) It  is  hard  to  get  out  of  leading  strings.  I  have  so 
much  work  on  hand  preparing  for  the  fall  campaign  that  I 
sometimes  get  discouraged  thinking  of  it,  especially  when  I 
consider  the  very  little  amount  of  intellectual  steam  I  am 
able  to  turn  on. 

Father  Walworth,  as  well  as  Father  Baker,  with 
his  driving  American  energy,  was  already  wearing 
away  his  strength  more  than  he  realized.  "  The 
average  duration  of  a  career  of  continuous  mis- 
sionary labor  in  Europe,"  wrote  Father  Hewit.  "  is 
only  ten  years."  He  was  calling  attention  to  the 
fact  that  Father  Baker,  a  man  of  delicate  tempera- 
ment and  unused  in  early  life  to  hardships,  had  un- 
dergone eight  years  of  this  arduous  work  before  he 
died.  For  many  more  years  than  that  Father  Wal- 
worth incessantly  expended  his  energies  in  the  same 
zealous  way,  but  even  his  magnificent,  equipment 
of  brain  and  muscle  quivered  at  last  under  the  long 
strain,  and  brain  fever  resulted.  He,  too,  might  have 
died,  if  the  strong  outreaching  love  of  his  equally 
energetic  father  had  not  sought  him,  enwrapped  him 
so  to  speak  when  he  was  almost  at  the  last  gasp,  and 
transplanted  him  to  the  invigorating  air  of  far-famed 
Saratoga.  There  the  precious  invalid  was  slowly 
coaxed  back  into  life  and  strength  amid  the  com- 
forts of  a  long-established  home.  After  that  he 
lived  on  to  serve  his  native  diocese  of  Albany  as  a 
parish  priest,  and  his  native  State  of  New  York  as 
an  outspoken,  public-spirited  citizen,  even  unto  the 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathers.  149 

end  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Thus  he  spent  more 
than  twice  as  many  years  as  he  had  previously  spent 
in  the  life  of  a  missioner. 

When  his  father  went  down  to  visit  him  in  his 
illness,  he  found  him  at  the  original  house  of  the 
Paulist  Fathers  in  Fifty-ninth  street.     He  lay  in  the 
rectory  of  what  was  then  a  raw,  up-town  New  York 
parish.      The   region   was   indented   here   and   there 
with   neglected  malarial   pools.      Its   newly-opened* 
streets  were  but  partially  graded  and  drained.     They 
ended  abruptly  in  a  rocky,  shanty  town  of  squatter? 
and  goats.     Close  by  were  the  unkempt  southern  con- 
fines of  a  newly  planned  park.     Many  laughed  at  its 
name,  Central  Park,  for  it  was  as  far  as  it  could  well 
be  from  the  center  of  the  city.     But  these  were  re- 
minded that,  at  least,  it  was  in  the  middle  of  Man- 
hattan Island.     Now  it  is  our  turn  to  smile  at  the 
"  pert  criticisers  "  of  those  days,  seeing  how  the  city 
has  outgrown  its  island.     It  takes  but  one  short  half- 
hour  of  our  twentieth  century  to  turn  its  30,000  up- 
town children  into  this  superb  park  for  a  glorious 
May-day  frolic ! 

What  were  the  Paulist  Fathers  trying  to  do  a  half 
century  ago  among  those  rocky  suburbs  ?  And  how 
had  they  ceased  to  be  Kedemptorists  %  These  ques- 
tions, reasonable  enough  from  those  unfamiliar  with 
our  subject,  may  thus  be  briefly  answered.  They 
were  trying,  first  of  all,  to  do  good,  just  as  they  had 
been  all  along  in  their  priestly  offices  to  mankind. 
They  were  also  succeeding  in  their  endeavors  about 
as  well  as  ever.  They  were  laying  the  foundations 
of  their  magnificent  temple  of  religion,  since  reared 
to  the  glory  of  God  under  the  name  of  that 
prince  of  itinerant  preachers,  St.  Paul  the  Apostle. 


150     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

This   task   called   out   great    and  latent   energies   in 
George  Deshon.     Besides  this  they  were  all  taking 
turns   at   missions    in   the   English   language,   given 
with   unabating   fervor,    in   many   States.     At   this 
apostolic  labor  Angustin  Ilewit,  the  "  old  iron-grey  " 
of   the  missions,    was   often    in   the   lead,    with   his 
Jonathan,  Francis  Baker,  close  by  him.     They  were 
receiving  converts    all    the    while.      These    Paulists 
were   also   teaching  the   Catholics   of  America   new 
ways  in  which  the  printing  press  could  be  used  to 
spread  the  true  faith.      They  were  gathering  zealous 
young  disciples,  American  to  the  core.     It  was  in 
these  things  above  all  that  the  genial  heart  of  Isaac 
Hecker  rejoiced.     A  tireless  reader  of  men  rather 
than   books,   a  great   lecturer   and  conversationalist, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  man  of  deep  spiritual  in- 
sight,  he   became   the   center   of   a   constellation   of 
bright  minds.      Among  these,  Tillottson,  an  accom- 
plished child  of  the  Hudson,  who  came  to  him  by 
way  of  Newman's  Oratorv,  Young  the  musician,  and 
Searle,   the   astronomer,   were,   from   their   first   ap- 
pearance  at   St.    Paul's,   recognized   as  stars  of  the 
first   magnitude.     Light    answered   light    intellectu- 
ally, and  fire  kindled  fire  spiritually,  till  the  world 
about  them  awoke  to  the  fact  that  a  new  spiritual 
family  had   grown    up   among   them.     A   new   and 
unique  influence  was  radiating  abroad  with  increas- 
ing  force   from   that    plain   little  home-nest   of  the 
Paulist  Fathers  in  Fifty-ninth  street. 

And  what  did  Father  Hecker  hope  to  do  with 
this  new  community  ?  To  convert  the  nation, 
neither  more  nor  less,  an  enterprise  truly  American 
in  its  vastness.     His  associates  were  no  less  Ameri- 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathers.  15  L 

can  in  their  conservative,  law-abiding  habits  of  life. 
All  the  strong  national  characteristics  were  from  the 
first  represented  in  force  among  them.  All  these 
early  recruits  were  happy  in  having  found  the  true 
faith,  and  anticipated  greater  happiness  in  spread- 
ing it. 

How  had  the  Paulist  founders  ceased  to  be  Re- 
demptorists?     Here  is  the  answer  in  a  nutshell  for 
chance  readers.     Others  may  secure  fuller  informa- 
tion from  archives   of  the  communities  themselves. 
Our  purpose  plows  not  so  deep.     Father  Hecker  had 
started  off  to  Eome  in  the  summer  of  1857  to  con- 
vince the  head   of  his   order  that   a  new  house   of 
English   speaking   Redemptorists    was   necessary   in 
America.      This   was   done  with   his   innate   impul- 
siveness and  with  truly  American  haste.     When  his 
"  ship  "  was  "  on  the  sea  "  and  his  "  bark  "  was  "  on 
the    shore/'     so    to    speak,    his    generous    brother 
promptly  tossed  him  a  purse  full  of  gold.     Father 
Hecker  telegraphed  at  the  last  moment  to  Baltimore, 
where  his  Redemptorist  comrades  were  giving  a  mis- 
sion.     These,   if   my  memory   serves   rightly  in  re- 
porting   Father   Walworth's    verbal    account    of    it, 
were  the  words  of  his  telegram :    "  Provincial  trem- 
bles,  shall   I   go  ?  "     To   friends   familiar  with  his 
trend   of  thought   and  quick  methods,   these   words 
were  quite  sufficient.     In  intervals  behveen  one  mis- 
sion exercise   and   another  the   three   fathers,  Wal- 
worth, Hewit  and  Deshon,  put  their  heads  together 
to  read  it  over,   and  coincided  in   the  opinion  that 
the   rule   of   St.   Alphonsus   permitted   a   direct   ap- 
peal to  their  superior  at  Rome.     Then   in  no  less 
American  haste  they  signed  their  names  to  an  an- 


152     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

swering  telegram  which  consisted  of  the  one  word: 
"  Go." 

Father  Hecker  did  go,  at  once.     But  there  was 
no  rapid   transit  at  Rome  in  those  days,   as  these 
Americans    found    out    during    several    perplexing 
months   that  followed.     The  exceeding  kindness  of 
the  Holy  Father,  nevertheless,  and  his  paternal  in- 
terest  in  every  detail  of   their   apostolic   work,   en- 
deared him  forever  to  their  hearts.      He,  in  his  wis- 
dom, found  a  way  of  uncoupling  and  switching  off 
their  particular  car   from  the  heavy,   international 
through   train   of  the   Redemptorists,    and   allowing 
them  to  get  up  steam  on  their  own  account,  whether 
individuallv  or  collectively,   under   the   supervision 
of  their  American  bishops.    Many  of  these,  in  whose 
dioceses   they   had   labored,    highly   indorsed   them, 
prominent     among     whom     was     James     Roosevelt 
Bailey,  afterwards  Metropolitan  of  Baltimore.     Be- 
sides,   they   found   thev  had   fast   friends   in   Arch- 
bishop  Hughes  of  Xew  York,  and  in  Cardinal  Bar- 
nabo  of  the  Propaganda  at  Rome.     The  decree  that 
established  the  status  of  these  five  sacerdotal  converts, 
so  self-sacrificing  in  zeal,  came  to  them  after  seven 
months  of  uncertainty.     During  that  time  the  four 
in   America,   with   unabated   energy,   gave  missions 
under   obedience   to   their    immediate   Redemptorist 
superiors,   Father  Walworth,   meanwhile,   as   senior 
priest,  leading  the  band.     Fifteen  "  large  and  suc- 
cessful "  missions  are  mentioned  by  Father  Hewit 
as  given  during  those  months  in  the  States  of  New 
Jersey,  Delaware,  Vermont  and  New  York."      The 


*  For  the  names  of  the  cities  and  parishes,  see  "  Memoir  of 
Rev.  F.  A.  Baker,"  New  York,  Cath.  Pub.  Soc.  Co.,  Ed.  1889, 
(Page    172). 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathers.  153 

decree  so  long  expected  was  issued  at  last  from  a 
Roman  Bureau,  that  of  the  Congregation  of  Bishops 
and  Regulars.  The  words  of  this  decree,  trans- 
lated from  the  Latin,  are  as  follows: 

Certain  priests  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Most  Holy 
Redeemer  in  the  United  States  of  North  America  recently 
presented  their  most  humble  petition  to  our  Most  Holy  Lord 
Pope,  Pius  IX,  that  in  view  of  certain  special  reasons,  he 
would  grant  that  they  might  be  withdrawn  from  the  authority 
and  jurisdiction  of  the  Rector  Major  and  be  governed  by  a  su- 
perior of  their  own,  immediately  subject  to  the  Apostolic  See, 
and  according  to  the  Rule  approved  by  Benedict  XIV,  of  holy 
memory.  If,  however,  this  should  not  be  granted  to  them, 
they  most  humbly  asked  for  dispensation  from  their  vows  in 
the  said  Congregation.  After  having  carefully  considered  the 
matter,  it  appeared  to  His  Holiness  that  a  separation  of  this 
kind  would  be  prejudicial  to  the  unity  of  the  Congregation 
and  by  no  means  accord  with  the  Institute  of  St.  Alphonsus, 
and  therefore  should  not  be  permitted.  Since,  however,  it 
was  represented  to  His  Holiness  that  the  petitioners  spare  no 
labor  in  the  prosecution  of  the  holy  missions,  in  the  con- 
version of  souls,  and  in  the  dissemination  of  Christian  Doc- 
trine, and  are  for  this  reason  commended  by  many  bishops, 
it  seemed  more  expedient  to  His  Holiness  to  withdraw  them 
from  the  said  Congregation,  that  they  might  apply  them- 
selves to  the  prosecution  of  the  works  of  the  sacred  ministry 
under  the  direction  of  the  local  bishops.  Wherefore  His 
Holiness  by  the  tenor  of  this  decree,  and  by  his  Apostolic 
authority,  does  dispense  from  their  simple  vows  and  from  that 
of  permanence  in  the  Congregation  the  said  priests,  viz. : 
Clarence  Walworth,  Augustine  Hewit,  George  Deshon,  and 
Francis  Baker,  together  with  the  priest  Isaac  Hecker  who  has 
joined  himself  to  their  petition  in  respect  to  dispensation 
from  the  vows,  and  declares  them  to  be  dispensed  and  entirely 
released  so  that  they  no  longer  belong  to  the  said  Congrega- 
tion. And  His  Holiness  confidently  trusts  that  under  the  di- 
rection and  jurisdiction  of  the  local  bishops  according  to  the 
prescription  of  the  sacred  Canons,  the  above  mentioned  priests 
will  labor  by  work,  example  and  word  in  the  vineyard  of  the 


154     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Lord  and  give  themselves  with  alacrity  to  the  eternal  salva- 
tion of  souls,  and  promote  with  all  their  power  the  sanctifi- 
cation  of  their  neighbors. 

Given  at  Rome,  in  the  office  of  the  Sacred  Congregation  of 
Bishops  and  Regulars,  the  6th  day  of  March,  1858. 

[L.  S.]  G.  CARDINAL  della  GENGA,  Prefect. 

A.  Archbishop  of  Philippi,  Secretary. 

The  Paulists  and  Redemptorists  have  always  been 
on  friendly  terms,  as  Father  Hewit,  when  superior, 
officially  stated. 

Father  Hecker,  whilst  in  Rome,  talked  with  the 
Holy  Father  about  a  name  for  the  new  congregation 
that  might  be  started  in  America  by  the  priests  named 
in  the  above  decree.  He  mentioned  St.  Paul,  it 
seems,  as  a  patron  they  would  be  glad  to  have,  accord- 
ing at  least  to  a  current  account  of  the  conversation. 
Then  Pope  Pius  IX  told  him  of  an  order  of  preachers 
at  Rome  under  that  patronage  which  was  already 
formed.  Their  church  is  near  the  scene  of  the  saint's 
martvrdom  and  they  are  dedicated  in  honor  of  that 
event  to  San  Paoli  Decapita,  St.  Paul  Beheaded! 
"  Perhaps,"  suggested  he,  "  the  American  fathers 
would  like  to  join  them."  "  Oh,  no,"  exclaimed 
Father  Hecker  hastily,  "  that  name,  Holy  Father, 
would  never  do  in  America !  We  must  have  St. 
Paul  with  his  head  on!" 

"Bravo!5  said  the  Pope,  much  entertained  with 
his  impulsiveness.  "  Have  him  with  his  head  on  if 
you  prefer.  You  will  be  entirely  free  to  settle  such 
matters  among  yourselves,  subject  only  to  your  own 
bishops.  Begin  your  work,  figlio  mio,  you  have  my 
blessing." 

Thereupon  Father  Hecker  proceeded  to  America, 
and  soon  became  Superior  of  the  Congregation  of 


One  of  the  Pauxist  Fathers.  155 

St.  Paul  the  Apostle,  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
presiding  for  many  years  thereafter  over  the  com- 
munity in  Fifty-ninth  street. 

His  activities  there  have  attracted  the  attention 
of  religious  minds  in  two  continents.  Public  com- 
ment on  defective  translations  from  a  biography  that 
unfolds  his  individual  "  inner  life  "  in  a  masterful 
way  promptly  called  forth  Pope  Leo's  luminous  let- 
ter on  "Americanism."  The  writer  of  these  lines 
read  aloud  to  Father  Walworth  leisurely  in  the  even- 
ings, first  that  memorable  biography  of  Isaac  Hecker 
as  it  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the  pages  of  the 
Catholic  World,  and  later  the  Pope's  letter.  The 
former  was  of  very  great  interest  to  him.  It  was  a 
never  to  be  forgotten  treat,  also,  to  his  amanuensis  to 
have,  viva  voce,  his  running  commentary  on  it.  The 
latter  gave  him  intense  delight.  "Lumen  de 
Gcelo!'  he  exclaimed  several  times,  in  strong, 
sweet  accents,  during  the  reading  of  the  Pope's 
words.  Sentence  after  sentence  was  reread  and 
marked,  as  for  future  use.  That  Encyclical  was, 
indeed,  a  touching  proof  of  the  great  love  of 
Leo  XIII  for  America. 

Father  Walworth's  most  frequent  comment,  as  he 
listened  month  after  month  to  the  manv  extracts 
from  his  old  friend's  journal  was:  "That's 
Hecker's  Hecker!  "  Now  and  then,  as  the  read- 
ing of  the  text  proceeded,  he  said  emphatically: 
"  That's  Elliott's  Hecker!"  He  keenly  relished 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes'  idea  of  six  persons*  being 


*  When  the  hungry  boarder  heard  the  "Autocrat  "  explain  that 
in  "  John  "  there  are  "  Thomas's  John,  John's  John  and  the  real 
John,"  he  appropriated  three  peaches,  saying:  "  Here,  then,  is  just  one 
apiece  for  me."     None  were  left  for  Thomas  or  the  Autocrat. 


156     Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Walworth. 

present  whenever  two  are  conversing,  not  forgetting 
the  hungry  boarder's  application  of  it  as  to  the 
peaches.  These  brief  remarks  of  his  intimated  an 
opinion  that  "  the  real  Hecker,''  in  all  his  propor- 
tions, is  yet  to  be  shown  when  a  fuller  record  shall 
be  published  of  his  many  good  deeds.  Let  us  hope, 
as  he  did,  for  a  sequel  to  the  biography  which  will 
ffive  us  more  in  detail  the  multiform  activities  of 
this  typical  and  therefore  practical  American. 
Then  all  America  may  read  of  him,  not  only  as  seer, 
author  and  preacher,  but  as  founder,  provider,  at- 
tendant upon  the  sick,  publisher,  editor,  lecturer 
and  actual  governor,  as  well  as  marvelous  persuader, 
of  men.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them," 
beyond  all  possibility  of  misunderstanding. 

Father  Walworth  and  Father  Hecker  together 
once  enjoyed  a  lengthy  conversation  with  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes.  It  was  at  Cambridge,  whither 
they  had  gone  for  the  purpose  of  preaching  a  mis- 
sion. Father  Walworth  said  afterward  that  Mr. 
Holmes  made  him  think  of  his  own  description  of 
"  Little  Boston '  as  he  sat  swinging  his  finger  at 
them  whilst  he  chatted  with  them.  Later  he  had  oc- 
casion to  send  Mr.  Holmes  two  of  his  books  as  they 
appeared  and  received  a  gratifying  letter  each  time 
in  response.  These  were  his  volume  of  poems, 
"Andiatoracte,"  and  the  "  Gentle  Skeptic."  He 
wrote  the  last-mentioned  book  while  he  was  a  Paul- 
ist,  though  he  had  gathered  the  geological  material 
for  it  earlier,  in  company  with  his  scientific  friend, 
James  Hall,  who  was  for  fifty  years  Geologist  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  At  the  time  of  his  trip  to 
Boston,  Father  Walworth  was   full   of  his  subject, 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathers.  157 

which  dealt  with  the  foundation  proofs  of  Christian- 
ity, and  the  so-called  contradictions  between  the 
Bible  and  new  science.  In  his  "Gentle  Skeptic/' 
the  author  assumed  the  character  of  a  country  jus- 
tice, with  a  theological  bent,  by  the  name  of  John 
Bird  (this  was  a  nom  de  plume  he  often  used  after- 
ward in  newspapers).  From  that  point  of  view  he 
discussed  in  his  work  science  and  religion,  with  a 
depth  of  thought  and  scope  that  was  fully  twenty- 
five  years  in  advance  of  the  popular  mind  as  to  the 
relations  of  those  two  subjects.  No  wonder  that  a 
man  like  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  listened  with  in- 
terest to  what  he  had  to  say,  as  is  shown  by  this 

letter : 

To  Rev.  Clarence  A.  Walworth, 

21  Charles  st. 

Boston,  May  25th,   1863. 

My  Dear  Sir  —  I  have  delayed  thanking  yon  for  your  kind- 
ness in  sending  me  "  The  Gentle  Skeptic  "  only  because  T  did 
not  know  your  address. 

I  have  read  a  good  deal  of  it,  and  without  professing  to  be 
convinced,  I  own  that  the  pleasant  temper  in  which  it  is 
written  at  least  secures  it  a  fair  hearing.  I  have  a  great 
deal  to  learn,  I  doubt  not,  about  Catholicism,  and  as,  even 
in  my  view  your  church  has  been  the  ark  in  which  Christianity 
and  civilization  have  preserved  and  still  preserve  many  of 
their  most  precious  treasures,  I  consider  it  a  privilege  to  have 
made  the  acquaintance  of  yourself  and  your  brother  in  service, 
Father  Hecker.  Please  remember  me  to  him  and  say  to  him 
how  much  I  enjoyed  the  talks  we  had  together,  and  how  much 
edification  I  get  from  some  of  his  short  discourses,  in  the 
volume  he  was  good  enough  to  send  me. 

Believe  me,  my  dear  Sir, 

Yours  with  great  respect. 

0.  W.  HOLMES. 


158     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Professor  Agassiz,  the  naturalist,  on  one  occasion 
spent  the  greater  part  of  a  morning  with  Father 
Walworth  showing  him  the  ethnological  museum  he 
was  gathering,  and  learned  from  him  St.  Augustine's 
theory  of  the  creation.  He  was  surprised  to  hear  that 
so  early  a  writer  had  opposed  the  literal  interpreta- 
tion which  ascribed  it  to  six  days  exactly  of  a  calen- 
dar week.  Father  Walworth  was  satisfied  that  Agas- 
siz was  no  atheist  or  agnostic,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
held  a  firm  belief  in  the  Creator,  and  a  reverent  one. 
His  studies  had  led  him  into  a  theory  peculiar  to  him- 
self, however,  that  conflicted  with  the  unity  of  man- 
kind as  descended  from  one  original  Adam,  and  this 
became  a  stumbling  block  in  the  way  of  his  faith 
in  revelation. 

What  has  been  said  recently  of  Father  Hecker, 
in  these  lines  from  a  New  York  daily,  applies  no 
less  to  Father  Walworth:  "  He  burned  with  the 
most  intense  desire  to  tell  his  countrymen  that  the 
Catholic  Church  gives  them  a  flight  to  God  a  thou- 
sand times  more  direct  than  they  ever  dreamed  of. 
Thev  think  the  authority  of  the  church  will  cramp 
their  limbs.  He  was  eager  to  explain  to  them  that 
it  sets  them  free,  clears  the  mind  of  doubt  intensi- 
fies conviction  into  instinctive  certitude  and  quick- 
ens the  intellectual  faculties  into  an  activity  whose 
force  is  unknown  among  those  who  are  always  in- 
quiring for  and  never  gaining  the  truth." 

Like  Father  Hecker,  too,  he  had  a  strong  and 
abiding  friendship  for  the  great  convert  philosopher, 
Orestes  Brownson.  The  last  theological  writings  of 
Father  Walworth  were  essays  on  "  The  Philosophy 
of  the  Supernatural,"  and  whilst  preparing  them, 
Dr.  Brownson's  essay  on  that  same  subject  was,  at 


One  of  the   Paulist  Fathers.  159 

his  request,  read  to  him  several  times.  He  con- 
sidered it  the  choicest  and  ripest  fruit  of  a  powerful 
brain.  Once  Dr.  Brownson  asked  him  to  criticise 
an  article  just  composed  that  he  read  to  him. 
Father  Walworth,  throwing  his  head  back  thought- 
fully, did  so.  Then  he  looked  at  the  doctor  to  find 
him  tearing  his  manuscript  into  shreds.  Without  a 
word  he  tossed  it  into  the  waste-paper  basket. 

"  Why,  Dr.  Brownson,"  said  the  other,  "  I  am 
ashamed  of  you  for  such  an  exhibition  of  temper! 
You  have  destroyed  a  very  fine  thing,  a  paper  that 
it  has  taken  a  vast  deal  of  thought  to  prepare." 

"I  never  could  bear  criticism/'  said  the  doctor, 
vehemently.  Then,  after  a  moment's  pause,  he  took 
up  the  fragments  with  the  penitent  simplicity  of  a 
child :  "  I  cannot  put  these  together.  I  will  go 
write  it  all  over  again."  And  so  he  did,  reading  it 
once  more  to  his  merciless  critic.  Father  Walworth 
would  not  allow  him  even  the  satisfaction  of  con- 
sidering it  as  good  as  the  first  one.  "  It  is  valu- 
able,  Doctor,  and  should  be  printed  in  your  quar- 
terly. But  in  the  rewriting  you  have  lost  some  of 
its  life  and  snap.  I  regret  very  much  that  you 
destroyed  the  original  draft.  Next  time  I  shall 
know  better  how  to  take  you." 

"  I  was  a  fool,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  say  no  more 
about  it.     I  ought  to  have  known  better." 

This  frank  readiness  to  admit  himself  in  the 
wrong  was  referred  to  by  his  friend  as  one  of  the 
fine  traits  in  a  noble  character. 

Small  pictures  of  Orestes  Brownson,  of  John 
Henry  Newman  and  of  T.  Romeyn  Beck,  of  the 
Albany  Academy,  hung  in  Father  Walworth's  room. 
When  on  his   deathbed  his  thoughts  were  dwelling 


160     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

with  these  honored  friends,  and  their  names,  uttered 
with  difficulty,  yet  tenderly,  lingered  on  his  lips. 
Dearly  he  loved  them. 

His  correspondence  with  his  friend,  Isaac  Hecker, 
largely  about  literary  matters  connected  with  Catho- 
lic publications,  continued  till  the  death  of  the  lat- 
ter, which  occurred  December  22,  1888.  The  sec- 
ond superior  of  the  Paulists,  another  dear  friend  of 
his  and  a  distant  cousin,  was  Father  Hewit,  with 
whom  he  had  been  through  thrilling  scenes  in  the 
draft  riots  of  1863.  Once  when  these  two  were  in 
the  street  trying  to  quell  the  excitement.  Father 
Hewit  was  clubbed  to  unconsciousness.  His  com- 
panion got  him  into  a  vacant  house  and  obtained  a 
doctor.  It  was  sometime  before  they  could  leave 
it  and,  meanwhile,  the  two  in  charge  of  the  patient 
witnessed  some  effective  work  by  the  city  police 
force.  Finally  the  mob  was  dispersed  and  a  way 
opened  for  their  return  to  Saint  Paul's  rectory. 
Seldom  did  Father  Walworth,  in  his  later  years,  go  to 
New  York  city  without  spending  some  considerable 
portion  of  his  time  with  members  of  the  Fifty-ninth 
street  community.  After  Father  Hewit's  death  he 
received  some  details  of  his  illness  from  Father 
Deshon,  who,  in  his  last  letter,  penned  this  brief 
but  soldierly  comment :  "  Like  the  old  Roman  he 
was  he  made  no  complaint."  Father  Deshon  was 
soon  called  upon  to  take  up  the  burdens  of  Father 
Hewit's  office.  On  becoming  the  third  superior  of 
the  Congregation  of  Saint  Paul  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
Father  Walworth  which  shows  both  the  strength  of 
their  friendship  and  the  holiness  that  was  its  bond. 
These  two  reasons  seem  to  warrant  its  publication 
here.      The  writer  of  these  sketches  was  privileged 


One  of  tiik  Paulist  Fathebs.  101 

to  open  it  and  read  it  to  the  recipient,  who  had  be- 
come too  blind  to  decipher  it  himself,  as  he  had  like- 
wise been  to  pen  the  one  that  called  it  forth.  Such 
words  passing  between  two  such  patriarchs,  when 
first  they  stood  apart  as  the  only  surviving  founders 
of  the  original  Paulist,  community,  throw  light  on 
the  motives  of  many  and  go  to  make  up  history. 

Church  of  St.  Paul  the  Apostle, 
Paulist  Fathers. 

415  West  Fifty-ninth  St.. 
New  York,  September  12,  1897. 

Dear  Father  Walworth  —  Your  letter  came  very  oppor- 
tunely and  gave  me  much  satisfaction.  The  election  of  Su- 
perior was  of  course  a  trying  time.  I  really  did  not  wish  for 
the  office  but  I  was  told  by  others  whose  judgment  I  valued, 
that  I  was  the  only  possibility  and  in  that  point  of  view,  I  de- 
sired to  be  elected.  If  I  had  not  been,  I  feel  sure  that  I  should 
not  have  grieved,  but  been  thankful  that  in  Divine  Providence 
I  had  been  released  from  responsibility. 

As  you  say,  we  have  not  long  to  stay  here  and  we  should 
not  only  acquiesce  but  be  glad  to  be  disposed  of  as  God 
wishes. 

He  is  the  judge  of  what  is  best  for  us.  No  matter  what 
trouble  and  anxieties  my  other  faculties  have  given  me,  God 
has  hitherto  kept  my  will  firm,  and  in  spite  of  shortcomings 
and  deficiencies,  I  have  but  one  object  in  view  and  that  is 
God's  will.  I  can  honestly  say  with  Job,  "Though  He  slay 
me.  I  will  trust  Him."  This  is  my  disposition  but  I  feel  the 
need  of  grace  every  minute. 

Be  assured,  my  dear  Father  Walworth,  that  I  love  you  very 
much,  and  we  will  pray  for  each  other  constantly  and  fre- 
quently. Every  time  we  think  of  one  another,  it  will  be  a 
lifting  up  of  our  souls  to  God  for  our  spiritual  welfare. 

I  think  everything  about  this  election  has  tended  to  an  in- 
crease of  love  and  harmony  in  our  community. 

Affectionately  in  Xt., 

GEOPvGE  DESHON. 

C.  S.  P. 


162     Life  Sketches  of  Fathek  Walworth. 

A  sermon  suited  to  war  tinies  in  New  York 
city  has  been  chosen  to  append  to  this  chapter.  It 
throws  light  on  the  development  of  Father  Wal- 
worth's character  through  multiform  activities  of  a 
priestly  life,  in  the  heart  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  has  thoughts,  too,  for  our  own  time  and  points  to 
a  "  star  on  a  policeman's  coat." 

THE  MAJESTY  OF  THE  LAW. 

(A  Sermon  Preached  after  the  New  York  Riots.) 

Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  powers  above  him;  for 
there  is  no  power  but  from  God,  and  those  that  be  are  or- 
dained of  God."     Rom.  xiii,  1. 

We  have  just  passed,  my  dearest  brethren,  through  a  tear- 
ful crisis;  such  a  one  as,  from  time  to  time  but,  thank  God, 
at  rare  intervals,  arises  to  startle  whole  communities  into 
a  sense  of  imminent  danger,  as  if  some  earthquake  had  burst 
under  foot  and  threatened  a  common  destruction  to  all. 
Nothing,  so  we  are  told  by  travelers,  nothing  can  equal  the 
terror  impressed  on  the  mind  by  the  first  experience  of  an 
earthquake.  We  are  accustomed  from  early  childhood  to 
confide  in  the  stability  of  the  earth  on  which  we  tread.  The 
water  and  the  air  we  know  to  be  unstable  elements,  but  we 
trust  the  solid  earth,  and  once  our  feet  are  planted  on  her 
strong  rocky  breast,  we  feel  secure.  It  only  needs  the  ex- 
perience of  an  earthquake  to  destroy  this  faith.  When  one 
suddenly  feels  the  earth  rising  and  sinking  and  swaying  to 
and  fro  beneath  his  feet,  when  he  can  no  longer  trust  the 
very  ground  on  which  he  stands,  the  illusion  of  a  whole  life  is 
dissipated.  All  faith  in  the  stability  of  nature  vanishes,  as  if 
God  had  recalled  the  laws  of  his  creation  and  the  world  were 
crumbling  back  again  into  chaos. 

A  shock  like  this  has  been  felt  among  us.  We  always  knew 
that  there  are  places  where  life  and  property  are  not  secure 
in  the  lonely  road,  on  the  wide  prairie,  in  the  dense  forest, 
where  the  arm  of  the  law  cannot  reach  us  to  shield  us.  But 
that  robbery  and  murder  should  prevail  in  the  streets  of  this 
city  of  New  York,  in  the  open  daylight,  and  at  a  thousand 
points  at  once,  unresisted  and  seemingly  irresistible  —  to  feel 


One  of  the  Pauust  Fathers.  103 

that  any  one  who  hated  us,  might  come  to  hum  our  houses 
over  our  heads  with  impunity,  or  beat  us  to  death  upon  the 
pavement, —  this  was  something  new  and  startling.  We  have 
always  trusted  in  the  law  to  protect  us.  The  law  was  like  a 
firm  rock  under  our  feet  and  on  that  we  stood  secure.  But 
here  was  a  power  that  rose  above  the  law,  a  subterranean 
monster  that  struggled  up  from  the  caverns  of  the  earth  into 
the  daylight,  and  setting  its  strong  shoulders  against  the 
pillars  of  the  law  strove  to  bring  down  the  whole  fabric  of 
society  into  ruins.  We  have  seen  the  law  powerless  for  a 
time  before  a  triumphant  mob,  a  passionate,  unprincipled, 
reckless,  merciless  mob.  It  has  been  our  first  experience ;  may 
God  spare  us  a  second! 

If  the  office  of  a  preacher  is  a  Divine  one;  if  he  speaks 
in  the  name  of  God;  if  he  would  not  waste  his  words  where 
they  are  not  needed,  but  speak  with  a  high  and  holy  purpose, 
and  to  a  practical  end,  giving  meat,  as  the  Psalmist  says,  of 
the  providence  of  God,  in  due  season  "in  tempore  opportune  ;" 
then  is  there  no  time  like  this,  no  fitter  time,  to  speak  of  that 
obedience  which  every  citizen  owes  to  the  laws  of  his  country. 

IT    IS    NECESSARY    TO    OBEY    THE    LAW.       BOTH    REASON    AND    RE- 
LIGION   TEACH    IT. 

1.  Reason  teaches  it.  A  mingled  party  of  Herodians  and 
Pharisees  came  once  to  our  Lord  to  consult  him  upon  a  dis- 
puted question.  They  said  to  him :  "  Master,  we  know  that 
Thou  art  a  true  speaker,  and  teachest  the  way  of  God  in 
truth;  neither  carest  thou  for  any  man,  for  thou  dost  not  re- 
gard the  person  of  men.  Tell  us,  therefore,  what  dost  thou 
think?  Is  it  lawful  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar  or  not?'  Our 
Lord  in  his  answer  makes  a  plain  appeal  to  reason  and  common 
sense.  "  Show  me  the  tribute  money,'"  said  He.  Let  me  see  the 
current  coin  with  the  government  stamp.  "  Whose  image  and 
inscription  is  this?"  In  whose  hands  are  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment? To  whom  does  it  belong  to  make  the  laws?  "  They 
say  to  him:  Caesar's."  Caesar  is  our  ruler  and  lawmaker. 
Well!  then  "Render  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's 
and  to  God  the  things  that  are  God's."*     If  Caesar  is  your 


*  St.   Matt.   xxii.   16-22. 


164     Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Walworth. 

prince  and  lawgiver,  then  obey  him  and  submit  to  his  laws, 
and  pay  in  your  tribute  for  the  support  of  his  government. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  any  government,  human  or  divine, 
unless  they  are  to  be  obeyed? 

Yes,  my  dear  Brethren,  reason  teaches  us  to  obey  the  law, 
for  all  we  have  on  earth  we  owe  to  the  protection  of  the 
laws,  life,  liberty,  property,  honor,  and  our  freedom  to  wor- 
ship God. 

You  owe  your  life  to  the  protection  of  the  laws.  A  man 
hates  you  with  all  the  bitterness  of  his  heart.  He  would 
plunge  a  dagger  into  your  bosom  if  he  dared.  Why  does  he 
not?  Perhaps  he  is  stronger  than  you,  or  if  not  he  might 
strike  you  unawares.  Perhaps  he  has  more  friends  to  back 
his  quarrel  than  you  have.  And  yet  you  do  not  apprehend 
any  danger.  Why  not?  Because  you  know  your  enemy  is 
afraid  to  attack  you.  What  is  he  afraid  of?  Not  of  you. 
No;  he  is  afraid  of  a  little  silver  star  on  a  policeman's  coat. 
That  star  is  the  eye  of  the  law  which  watches  over  you,  to 
protect  you  and  follows  your  footsteps,  wherever  you  go. 
That  eye  is  on  your  adversary  also,  and  he  is  afraid  of  it. 
It  says  to  him :  "  He  that  sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall 
his  blood  be  shed."  Only  strip  that  star  from  the  policeman's 
breast,  only  tear  out  that  leaf  on  which  the  law  against 
murder  is  written,  only  let  a  successful  mob  rise  and  trample 
down  the  authority  which  wrote  the  law  and  armed  the  police 
—  and  your  life  is  at  the  mercy  of  the  first  ruffian  that 
assails  it. 

You  owe  your  liberty  to  the  protection  of  the  law.  You 
happen  to  be  a  Catholic,  but  the  majority  of  your  neighbors 
are  not.  Some  of  them  are  contented  to  follow  their  own 
light,  and  leave  you  to  follow  yours.  But  all  are  not  so 
liberal.  There  are  some  who  hate  the  sight  of  your  church, 
and  would  be  glad  to  see  it  in  ruins.  The  sound  of  our  bells 
in  their  ears  are  enough  to  make  them  howl.  Why  do  they 
not  gather  and  come  in  here  to  interrupt  our  worship,  break 
down  our  altar  and  drive  us  home?  The  law  protects  us. 
There  is  about  us  this  morning  something  which  we  cannot 
see,  but  which  makes  its  presence  felt ;  a  mysterious  influence 
shed  around  us  which  our  enemies  fear,  and  which  makes  our 
hearts  secure.  It  is  the  shadow  of  a  great  eagle's  wing  out- 
spread above  us.     It  is  the  majesty  of  the  law.     Under  the 


One  of  the   Patjlist  Fathers.  165 

protection  of  that  mighty  wing  we  worship  God  without  fear. 
To  the  law,  then,  we  owe  liberty  of  conscience.  Our  enemies 
respect  it,  and  shall  not  we  respect  it,  too?  To  the  law  you 
owe  the  security  of  your  property.  The  city  is  full  of  thieves, 
at  least  of  those  who  will  steal  when  they  dare.  No  feeling 
of  honor,  or  conscience,  or  religion  restrains  them  from 
bursting  into  your  house  to  plunder  and  pillage.  Your  wife 
and  children  are  but  a  feeble  guard  when  you  are  away,  and 
even  at  night  when  you  are  home,  you  are  as  helpless  as  the 
rest,  for  your  eyes  are  locked  in  sleep.  Is  there  nothing 
there  you  value,  nothing  that  it  would  grieve  you  to  lose? 
How  then  can  you  sleep  so  securely!  Are  you  not  afraid  to 
close  your  eyes,  for  fear  you  may  awake  again  to  find  your 
drawers  broken  open,  your  money,  your  tools,  your  furniture 
gone,  your  house,  perhaps,  wrapped  in  flames?  No;  you  are 
not  afraid,  for  you  know  that  you  are  protected.  Your  doors 
are  barricaded,  but  not  with  stakes  or  stones;  your  windows 
are  barred  but  not  with  iron.  It  is  fear  of  the  law  that 
guards  your  house.  While  the  majesty  of  the  law  is  respected, 
so  long  your  property  is  secure. 

What  do  you  not  owe  to  the  protection  of  the  laws?  Your 
honor,  your  reputation,  the  honor  of  your  wives  and  daughters, 
are  only  secure  against  ruffians,  because  the  law  of  your 
country  protects  you.  And  will  you  not  honor  the  law?  Or 
do  you  wish  that  the  law  shall  restrain  the  passions  of  other 
men,  and  not  yours  also.  Oh!  beware  how  you  teach  men  to 
resist  the  law!  That  arm  of  the  government  which  you  seek 
to  paralyze  by  violence  and  revolt  is  the  only  security  you 
have  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  your  dearest  rights.  Do  not 
rouse  the  passions  of  the  people!  There  is  cupidity  enough 
and  hatred  enough  and  lust  enough  and  folly  enough  in  a 
mob  to  reach  your  home  as  wTell  as  others,  to  set  fire  to  your 
roof  and  wash  your  floors  with  blood.  There  is  a  slumbering 
tiger  in  every  community.  If  you  have  anything  to  lose,  or 
anything  to  love,  do  not  help  to  unchain  him. 

"  Show  me  the  tribute  money "  said  the  Lord.  "  Whose 
image  and  inscription  is  this?"  What  is  it  I  see  on  this 
governmental  coin?  A  liberty  head,  and  an  eagle.  Ah!  yes; 
my  liberty,  and  all  my  safety,  I  owe  to  that  eagle.  While 
she  hovers  overhead,  I  sleep  secure,  and  commit  confidingly  all 
I   love   to  the   shelter   of  her  wings.     While   she  holds  those 


166     Lira  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

wings  extended  in  the  pride  of  her  power,  liberty  triumphs; 
when  they  droop,  tyranny  prevails;  when  she  falls,  then  comes 
anarchy,  misery  and  the  abomination  of  desolation.  Liberty! 
what  is  liberty?  Is  it  the  freedom  of  passion  and  disorder, 
the  reign  of  the  individual  will  and  brute  force?  No,  God 
forbid!  It  is  the  triumph  of  order,  obedience  and  law.  It  is 
the  submission  of  individual  interests  to  the  common  good  of 
all.  It  is  protection  afforded  to  the  gentle  and  the  feeble  by 
restraints  placed  upon  the  brutal  and  the  powerful.  Liberty 
is  the  child  of  law  and  order.  The  true  patrons  of  tyranny 
are  those  assassins  who  assail  my  liberty,  by  railing  against 
the  majesty  of  the  law  by  which  my  rights  are  protected. 

2.  It  is  necessary  to  obey  the  law,  because  such  is  the 
will  of  god.    In  the  ancient  Hebrew  code,  God  commanded  that 
those  who  would  not  submit  to  the  decree   of  the  Judge  of 
Israel  should  be  put  to  death.     Deut.  xvii.  12.     If  resistance 
to  the  law  were  not  a  great  sin,  surely  God  would  not  have 
prescribed  so  severe  a  punishment  for  it.     It  would  be  cruel 
to  visit  a  light  offense  with  death.     But  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment the  Christian  Doctrine  on  this  point  is  set  forth  in  the 
clearest   and   most  explicit   terms.     The  law  of   obedience   to 
civil   authorities  is   laid  down  as  a  religious  principle.     The 
reason  for  it  is  given.     The  penalty  is  declared  against  the 
transgressor.      A*nd    the    quibbling   reasons   which   rioters   are 
wont  to  assign  for  their  violence,  and  more  cowardly  trans- 
gressors  for   their   evasions   of   the   law,   are   anticipated   and 
refuted.     "  Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the   higher  powers," 
says  the  Apostle  Paul.     With  what  an  emphasis  this  comes 
from  the  lips  of  the  great  apostle.     Of  all  men,  perhaps,  in 
the    Roman    Empire,    he    had    the    least    protection    from    the 
authorities   of   the  government.     His  country  was   held    as   a 
tributary  province.     His  religion  was  proscribed  by  law.     His 
life    was    forfeited    to   the    State    for    the    offense    of   being   a 
Christian.     But  he  would  not  pervert  the  truth  for  any  such 
considerations  as  these.     He  had  a  mission  to  speak  in  the 
name  of  God,  and  God's  truth  must  be  declared  in  its  sim- 
plicity.    "  Let   every  soul   be  subject   to   the  higher  powers.'' 
It  is  then  a  Divine  law  or  precept.     God  commands  it,  and  the 
good    Christian,    therefore,   must   obey    the    voice    of   God,   by 
obeying  the  laws  of  his  country. 


One  of  the  Paulist  Fathebs.  107 

The  apostle,  however,  does  not  leave  the  matter  here.  There 
is  a  profound  philosophy  behind  the  precept,  and  he  goes  on 
to  explain  it  to  us.  It  does  not  need  any  revelation  to  teach 
us  the  religious  necessity  of  obedience.  There  is  an  inherent 
reason  in  the  very  nature  of  the  government.  "  There  is  no 
power"  the  Apostle  tells  us,  "  but  from  God,  and  those  that 
be  are  ordained  of  God."  Rom.  xiii.  1.  In  other  words, 
there  is  no  lawful  government  but  such  as  derive  their 
authority  from  God.  All  authority,  wherever  it  exists, 
whether  in  the  family,  or  the  State,  or  in  the  Church,  derives 
its  sanction  from  God  alone.  The  child  is  bound  to  obey  its 
parent,  only  because  God  wills  it,  because  that  parent  has 
authority  from  God.  His  right  to  command,  and  the  child's 
dutv  to  obev,  are  both  derived  from  Heaven.  It  is  natural 
law,  you  say.  Ay,  but  what  is  natural  law,  but  God's  law? 
The  authority  of  civil  governments  is  derived  from  the  same 
high  source.  It  is  nothing  else  than  Divine  authority  com- 
mitted to  the  agency  of  men.  "  By  me,"  says  Divine  Wisdom, 
"Kings  reign;  by  me  princes  rule,  and  the  mighty  decree 
justice."  P'rov.  viii.  15.  There  is  no  reason  under  Heaven, 
why  I  am  bound  to  obey  any  law,  either  in  the  family,  or  in 
the  State,  or  in  the  Church  except  that  the  right  to  command 
is  given  by  God.  "  For  there  is  no  power  but  from  God," 
says  the  Apostle,  "  and  those  that  be  are  ordained  of  God." 
No  matter,  therefore,  whether  the  seat  of  authority  is  deter- 
mined by  popular  election  or  by  hereditary  descent,  its  source 
is  always  from  God.  The  magistrates  in  the  civil  government 
stand  upon  the  same  footing  as  the  Priests  in  the  Church; 
"  for  they  are  the  ministers  of  God,  serving  unto  this  pur- 
pose." A  miserable  Christian  is  he  that  will  not  obey  the 
laws  of  his  countrv. 

I  know  what  is  the  common  argument  used  against  rioters. 
You  expose  yourself  to  great  danger,  they  tell  you.  You 
cannot  succeed  in  the  end.  The  force  of  the  government  is 
too  strong.  Your  violence  will  recoil  upon  your  own  head. 
You  will  be  shot  down  in  the  streets  in  the  conflict;  or,  at 
least,  afterward  you  will  be  dragged  before  the  magistrates, 
and  all  you  will  gain  by  your  resistance  to  the  laws  will  be 
a  death  of  shame,  or  a  lonely  cell  in  the  prison. 

These  arguments  are  very  good  in  their  way,  and  in  any 
other    place    than    this    I    might    use    them    too.      But    here, 


168     Life  Sketches  cvf  Father  Walworth. 

standing  in  this  church,  and  before  Cod's  altar.  I  feel  called 
upon  to  take  higher  ground.  It  is  not  merely  as  a  matter  of 
policy  and  expediency,  or  for  fear  of  getting  into  trouble, 
that  we  are  bound  to  respect  the  laws.  It  is  a  solemn  matter 
of  conscience.  "  Wherefore," —  I  borrow  once  more  the  Ian 
guage  of  St.  Paul — "wherefore  be  subject  of  necessity,  not 
only  for  wrath,  but  for  conscience." 

••  I  will  not  submit  to  this  law,"  says  the  angry  rioter, 
'"and  woe  to  them  that  try  to  enforce  it!  I  will  oppose  it 
with  all  my  power,  and  if  they  are  able  to  put  me  down,  why 
then  I  will  bear  the  penalty."'  You  will  bear  the  penalty! 
And  you  know  what  the  penalty  is  —  the  whole  penalty?  It 
is  not  merely  confinement  in  the  state  prison.  It  is  confine- 
ment in  hell.  It  is  not  merely  to  expose  yourself  to  the  fire 
of  a  platoon  of  soldiers.  There  is  danger  of  hell-fire.  You 
need  not  take  my  word  for  it;  I  will  give  you  the  Apostle's: 
'•  Therefore,  lie  that  resisteth  the  poioer,  resisteth  the  ordi- 
nance of  God;  and  they  that  resist  purchase  to  themselves 
damnation."  Ah!  then  there  is  more  to  fear  than  the  out- 
raged government  of  vour  country.  There  is  more  to  fear 
than  a  police  force,  or  a  company  of  soldiers,  or  a  jury,  or 
a  judge,  or  a  prison,  or  a  gallows.  The  rioter  must  meet  the 
indignation  of  an  angry  God.  Oh!  yes,  there  is  a  majesty  in 
the  Law.     What  is  it?     It  is  the  majesty  of  God. 

I  do  not  know,  my  Brethren,  how  far  the  guilt  of  this  late 
riot  extends.  I  do  not  know  how  many,  if  any,  of  those 
before  me  are  implicated  in  it.  I  thank  God  I  do  not  recog- 
nize any.  I  am  glad  to  believe  that  the  most  of  you  feel  the 
same  horror  that  I  feel  at  the  remembrance  of  these  scenes 
of  violence,  these  prostrate  victims  calling  in  vain  for  mercy, 
these  burning  houses,  these  shelterless  orphans.  It  was  an 
awful  week.  What  mother  but  waited  in  terror  until  her  boy 
came  home  at  night!  What  wife  but  trembled  at  every  knock 
on  the  door,  for  fear  it  might  be  a  husband  brought  home  in 
bloody  garments !  How  many  that  dared  not  sleep  at  night ! 
How  many  that  awoke  in  the  morning  only  to  recommence  a 
day  of  terrors!  But  let  it  pass,  and  God  grant  that  the 
fearful  reality  may  never  come  again!  I  am  glad  I  say  to 
believe  —  and  I  think  I  read  it  in  your  sad  but  confiding 
faces  —  that  the  most  of  you  are  innocent  in  this  matter. 
But  if  there  be   any  guilty  ones   here,  oh !    hang  your   heads 


One  of  the   Pat  list  Fathers.  169 

with  shame!  What  have  you  doner  Dishonored  your  names 
as  citizens  and  as  Christians.  You  have  outraged  the  majesty 
of  that  law  which  protects  you.  You  have  risen  in  revolt 
against  the  government  that  shelters  you.  You  have  helped, 
perhaps,  to  shed  innocent  blood.  You  have  dishonored  the 
Hag  of  your  country.  You  have  dishonored  your  faith,  and 
your  baptism.  You  have  brought  shame  upon  the  cross  that 
surmounts  this  altar  where  you  worship,  and  that  is  carved 
on  the  headstones  where  your  forefathers  lie  buried.  Do 
penance  then  for  the  wrong  you  have  done,  for  the  violence 
you  have  encouraged,  for  the  evil  you  have  meditated.  And 
let  the  sad  memory  of  what  is  past  remain  in  your  minds  as 
a  salutary  lesson  for  the  future.  And  should  these  evil  days 
return  again  —  as  I  pray  to  God  that  they  may  not  —  should 
these  disturbances  be  unhappily  renewed;  or  if  at  any  other 
time  in  years  to  come,  should  the  standard  of  riot  and  revolt 
be  upreared  in  our  streets,  then  let  us  be  found,  my  Brethren, 
with  every  citizen  who  loves  his  country  and  every  Catholic 
who  loves  his  faith,  nobly  rallying  to  resist  the  mob  and  to 
uphold  the  majesty  of  the  Law. 


IX. 

CORRESPONDENCE   WITH   CONVERTS. 
A  Letter  on  the  Trinity — Hecker,  Newman,  Hewit. 

Father  Walworth  received  many  converts  into  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  many  received  by  others 
ascribed  to  him  their  conversion.  One  in  the  long 
list  of  his  converts  was  Miss  Martha  Wallace  of 
Pittsburg,  Pa.  For  his  relatives  a  special  interest 
is  attached  to  this  conversion,  from  the  fact  that 
her  sister  afterwards  married  Father  W^alworth's 
nephew,  Mr.  Mansfield  Davison.  Miss  Susan  Davi- 
son wrote,  in  1905,  the  following  words  to  her 
paternal  uncle,  Charles,  himself  a  recent  convert  to 
the  Catholic  Church  (and  chiefly  through  the  same 
influence  that  moved  so  long  ago  the  soul  of  Miss 
Davison's  "  Aunt  Mattie")  : 

"  Her  name  was  Martha  Wallace  and  she  was  con- 
verted by  Uncle  Clarence  in  Pittsburg,  when  he  gave 
his  mission  with  Father  Hecker.  Mother  says  she 
does  not  remember  the  exact  vear,  but  it  was  in  the 
fifties.  She  died  in  1859,  having  joined  the  Catholic 
Church  a  few  vears  before.  Mv  aunt  took  the  name 
Eulalia  when  she  was  baptised." 

Some  of  his  converts  became  zealous  apostles  of 
the  faith.  Most  of  them  persevered  and  rejoiced 
at  the  sight  of  him.  A  few  fell  away.  Several 
whom  he  won  were  married  clergymen,  who  had 
to  face  the  trying  problem  of  finding  a  new  means 
of  livelihood  for  their  families.     In  this  last  class 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         171 

was  a  fellow  student  and  Tractarian,  one  of  those 
who  wrote  to  him  just  as  he  was  starting  abroad  for 
the  novitiate.  His  heart  prompted  this  clergyman 
to  visit  the  friend  of  by-gone  days  during  the  time 
of  a  mission  at  Utica,  N.  Y.  This  was  his  greeting 
from  the  convert  and  missioner: 

"  Well,  Whiteher,  don't  let  us  dodge  the  one  great 
matter  of  which  Ave  are  both  thinking.  Why  are 
you  not  a  Catholic  long  before  this  % ' 

"  Sure  enough/'  was  the  response,  "  that  is  the 
great  question,  and  I  don't  know  how  to  answer  it." 
aTen  long  years  of  your  life  have  passed  away," 
said  Father  Walworth,  "  and  still  here  you  are  look- 
ing one  way  and  rowing  the  other.  How  can  you  do 
it  %    How  can  your  conscience  bear  it  ?" 

A  little  more  urging  and  this  subdued  soul,  from 
which  much  early  life  and  fire  had  departed,  prom- 
ised to  resign  his  charge  of  a  church  at  Whitesboro 
and  put  himself  shortly  in  the  hands  of  Father  Mc- 
Farland,  pastor  of  St.  John's,  Utica,  for  further  in- 
struction. This  priest,  who  soon  received  Mr. 
Whiteher  into  the  church,  became  afterwards  the 
Bishop  of  Hartford,   in   Connecticut. 

Many  years  later  Father  Walworth  could  still  be 
found  at  the  same  apostolic  task  of  gathering  in  con- 
verts whenever  and  wherever  hungry  souls  came 
about  him.  And  how  many  such  there  are!  He 
was  usually  a  very  quiet  but  alert  fisher  of  men, 
whether  sitting  on  the  bank  or  standing  in  the 
stream.  It  was  an  interesting  surprise  one  day  to 
his  niece  to  find  how  at  his  tongue's  end  was  the 
ancient  and  honorable  science  of  angling,  as  he  con- 
versed in  a  railway  train  with  a  gentleman  just  start- 
ing for   the   Adirondacks  with   rod   and  reel.      The 


172     Life  Sketches  of  Fatheb  Walworth. 

latter  was  delighted  to  find  so  responsive  a  com- 
panion for  his  journey.  When  Father  Walworth 
took  some  of  his  last  walks  in  Washington  Park, 
Albanv,  he  was  too  blind  to  read  and  too  feeble 
to  go  far  without  resting  on  a  bench.  There 
he  would  sit  on  sunny  afternoons  fingering  his  ros- 
ary. After  his  eyes  began  to  fail  he  was  accustomed 
to  say  "  fifteen  decades  "  daily,  by  privilege  from 
Rome  secured  for  him  by  Bishop  Wadhams,  instead 
of  reading  the  office  from  the  breviary.  Often  some 
man,  a  convalescent  or  traveler,  would  sit  down  and 
talk  to  him.  More  than  one  convert  was  instructed 
by  him  for  the  sacraments  in  that  peaceful  park, 
under  the  great  willows,  as  they  rested  together  on 
a  bench.  It  became  a  trysting  place  of  his  and 
theirs  for  that  purpose. 

The  painstaking  way  in  which  he  was  willing  to 
labor  for  a  human  soul  not  vet  of  the  fold  mav 
well  be  shown  here  by  some  pages  of  correspondence. 
Following  the  four  letters  that  group  themselves 
about  his  own  on  the  Trinity,  given  below,  are  a 
few  others  from  his  fellow  converts  of  the  priest- 
hood. His  correspondence  with  Father  Heeker,  in 
its  refreshing  and  hearty  abandon,  is  strongly  char- 
acteristic of  him  and  of  their  later  intercourse,  deal* 
ing  much  with  his  contributions  to  the  Paulist  pub- 
lications. Part  of  the  subject  matter  of  this  very 
Letter  on  the  Trinity  has  already  appeared  in  the 
Catholic  World  as  far  back  as  December,  1885,  in  an 
article  entitled  "  The  Trinity  in  Simple  English." 
A  perusal  of  the  entire  original  letter  will,  we  think, 
give  an  added  interest  to  that  article  as  well  as  to  his 
later  meditative  poems,  " Gradus  ad  Trinitatem" 
showing  how  thought  grows  to  maturity  like  a  flower. 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         173 

The  letter,  too,  from  Newman,  printed  in  Father 
Walworth's  final  series  of  Reminiscences,  will  bear 
re-reading  here,  as  coming  from  that  master  mind 
among  English  speaking  converts  to  his  reverent 
disciple.  Finally,  some  last  treasured  lines  from 
Father  Hewit  will  complete  our  little  packet  of  con- 
verts' letters. 

From  A.  to  Rev.  Clarence  Walworth,  Neio  York  City. 

0 ,  Vt.,  Feb.  21,  1864. 

Rev.  and  Deab  Father  —  A  friend  of  mine.  Miss  X,*  has 
asked  me  to  recommend  a  priest  to  her,  that  she  may  cor- 
respond with  him  about  Catholic  doctrines.  She  is  quite  a 
talented  and  cultivated  woman;  has  been  struggling  with  her- 
self for  years.  She  has  corresponded  with  Bishop  Hopkins 
of  Burlington,  Vt.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  prevented  her 
becoming  an  Episcopalian.  I  am  sure  she  desires  earnestly  to 
be  at  peace  with  God.  You  already  perceive  that  with  your 
permission,  I  wish  to  recommend  yourself.  I  know  with  all 
your  cares,  it  would  be  a  great  bother.  Your  kind  patience 
towards  my  griefs  (for  which  you  have  my  best  thanks) 
gives  me  courage  to  ask  so  great  a  favor.  Being  an  American 
and  a  Convert,  I  feel  sure  you  will  understand  her  needs. 
If  you  are  so  generous  as  to  consent,  please  send  me  your 
proper  address,  which  I  cannot  find.  Hoping  to  be  sometimes 
remembered  in  your  prayers,  especially  before  the  altar,  I  am, 

Your  obedient  child  in  Christ. 

A. 

From  X.  to  the  Same. 

0 ,  Vt.,  March  4,  1864. 

Revernd  and  Dear  Sir  —  Grateful  for  the  very  kind  per 
mission  to  address  you,  tendered  through  A.,  I  will  endeavor 
to  narrow  the  present  correspondence  to  a  single  but  para- 
mount consideration,   The  Trinity. 


*  This  letter  X.  stands  for  a  name  the  author  of  these  sketches 
does  not  feel  at  liberty  to  insert,  without  furher  information  or 
full    permission. 


174     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Many  years  a  sad  seeker  for  religious  Truth,  feeling  deepest 
need  of  the  external  aid  of  a  church  to  "  keep  me  to  heights 
which  the  soul  is  competent  to  gain,"  I  have  believed  myself 
hopelessly  debarred  admission  into  any  Trinitarian  Church 
from  the  nature  and  invincible  obstinacy  of  my  ideas  of  the 
Trinity  —  ideas  derived  in  childhood  from  a  literal  interpre- 
tation of  the  Scriptures  —  strengthened  by  years  into  ( I  be- 
lieve) unchangeable  conviction  —  ideas  which  I  have  always 
regarded  as  Unitarian;  although,  only  in  the  works  of  E.  H. 
Sears,  Uni  Divine,  have  I  found  a  perfect  exposition  of  them, 
and  he  is  claimed  by  Trinitarians.  Conversations  with  vari- 
ous Protestant  Trinitarians,  clergy  and  laity,  have  only  the 
more  hopelessly  perplexed,  from  the  want  of  harmony  in  their 
views  or  explanations,  some  regarding  myself  as  Uni,  others 
as  Trinitarian. 

In  this  embarrassment,  I  begged  A  to  direct  me  to  the 
wisest  Catholic  she  knew,  that  such  a  one  might  decide 
whether  my  views  could  be  sanctioned  by  a  Trinitarian  Church, 
as  this  must  precede  any  serious  consideration  of  Catholicism. 
Although  intimate  relations  with  several  Romanists,  an  ex- 
amination of  their  doctrines,  and  above  all  the  purity  of 
their  lives,  the  loftiness  of  their  aspirations  and  the  depth  of 
their  Faith,  have  not  only  softened  early  prejudices,  but  have 
engendered  a  profound  conviction  that  a  corrupt  Church  could 
not  bring  forth  such  fruits  of  exceeding  Charity,  Humility, 
Holiness. 

Conceiving  that  the  present  purpose  will  be  better  sub- 
served by  an  attempted  exposition  of  my  own  ideas  than  by 
the  wisest  instructions  of  yourself,  you  will  kindly  pardon 
a  summing. 

The  Catholic  creed  I  unreservedly  but  literally  accept.  I 
believe  in  one  God,  The  Father,  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only 
begotten  Son  —  wholly  divine  by  virtue  of  His  sonship,  as 
man  born  of  humanity  is  human  —  as  distinct  from  the 
Father  as  any  human  father  and  son,  though  one  in  essence 
and  spirit  far  more  intimately  than  is  possible  to  humanity. 
Equal  to  the  Father  by  a  delegated  power,  the  Father  having 
committed  all  things  into  His  hands;  but  that  when  he  shall 
have  subdued  all  things  under  Him,  He  also  shall  be  subject 
to  the  Father.  When  or  how  in  the  remote  eternities  He  was 
begotten,   or   how  for   our   redemption   He   became   man,   I  do 


Correspondence  with   Converts.        175 

not  seek  to  know.  The  love  I  bear  the  blessed  Saviour  is  so 
wholly  distinct  from  that  exercised  towards  the  Almighty 
Father,  that  to  believe  in  their  absolute  oneness,  would  be 
an  infinite  bereavement,  would  be  to  take  my  Lord  away. 

The  words,  "  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  God  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  are  to  my  heart  and  my  understanding  utterly  un- 
intelligible (not  to  say  absurd)  and  surely  there  are  mys- 
teries enough  without  receiving  absurdities. 

My  conceptions  of  the  Holy  Spirit  do  not  materially  differ 
from  those  commonly  received. 

The  words  "  Very  God  of  Very  God ';  would  make  that 
sublime  prayer,  "  Father  forgive  them,"  utterly  meaningless 
as  if  addressed  to  Himself. 

With  renewed  thanks  for  your  kindness,  and  entreaties  that 
I  may  not  be  allowed  to  trouble  you,  and  that  you  will  con- 
sult vour  leisure  in  answering.  Very    respectfully, 

X. 

Please  address  as  before  A,  O ,  Vt. 

LETTER  ON   THE   TRINITY. 

Rev.  Clarence  Walworth  to  X. 

New  York,  March  11,  1864. 

Dear  Friexd  —  Returning  to-day  home  after  a  week's  ab- 
sence, I  find  your  letter  upon  my  table,  and  hasten  to  answer 
it.  I  thank  you  for  the  confidence  which  you  have  put  in 
me,  although  a  stranger;  for,  although  but  an  exposition  of 
the  state  of  your  mind  in  regard  to  a  single  point,  it  is  still 
a  confidence, —  and  I  feel  that  I  am  better  acquainted  with 
you  after  that  short  letter  than  with  some  others  after  a 
dozen  interviews.  I  said  in  my  reply  to  A's  letter,  that  I 
wished  first  of  all  to  know  your  exact  standpoint.  So  far  as 
the  Trinity  is  concerned,  you  have  given  it  to  me  as  precisely, 
I  suppose,  as  the  same  number  of  words  could  possibly  give 
it;  with  at  the  same  time  an  idea  of  the  character  of  your 
intelligence  which  justifies  me  in  going  more  deeply  into  this 
question  than  I  had  anticipated.  The  difficulty  in  your  mind 
is  a  philosophical  one,  and  although  possibly  you  may  not 
have  studied  philosophy,  I  feel  confident  that  you  will  be  able 
to  comprehend  a  philosophical  exposition  of  the  Catholic  doc- 
trine  of  the  Trinity,  at  least  when  stripped  of  merely  con- 


176     Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Walworth. 

ventional  and  technical  terms.  You  certainly  are  not  a  Uni- 
tarian in  anv  sense  in  which  I  would  not  have  vou  so.  You 
are  a  Trinitarian,  that  is  to  say,  you  believe  enough  to  carry 
with  it  the  entire  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  although 
at  the  same  time,  for  want  of  a  full  analysis  of  your  own 
thought,  you  state  certain  propositions  which  are  contrary 
both  to  your  own  thought  and  to  the  Catholic  doctrine. 

To  understand  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  it  is 
simply  necessary  to  understand  distinctly  the  difference  be- 
tween the  words  "  Essence  "  ( or  its  equivalent  "  substance  " ) 
and  "Person,"  or  (to  use  a  term  which  for  intelligent  minds 
is  more  accurate)  ''Subsistence."  To  understand  the  Scrip- 
ture language  upon  this  question,  it  is  only  necessary  to  bear 
in  mind  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  combines  in  his  one  single 
personality  two  different  and  distinct  natures:  that  He  is 
really  God  and  really  man,  and  capable  of  speaking  in  either 
character,  while  (through  the  defect  simply  of  our  language 
and  the  feeble  grasp  of  our  intelligence)  no  words  whicli  He 
could  employ  fairly  represent  Him  in  both  characters  at  once. 
I  will  leave  you,  for  the  present  at  least,  to  make  what  use 
you  may  of  this  second  suggestion;  confining  myself  to  an 
exposition  of  "  Catholic  philosophy "  on  this  subject.  The 
Catholic  doctrine  or  dogma  any  catechism  will  give  you.  You 
will  find  the  following  exposition,  but  at  far  greater  length, 
in  a  Sermon  of  Father  Lacordaire's  in  his  Conferences  a  Notre 
Dame,  entitled  "  La  vie  intime  de  Dieu,"  and  also  in  different 
numbers  of  Broionson's  Review,  in  particular,  the  Xo's  for 
April,  1862,  and  July,  1803.  Lacordaire  is,  however,  much 
clearer  and  more  easily  intelligible.  I  have  made  extracts 
from  both  in  a  scrap-book  of  mine,  which  fortunately  makes 
this  present  task  quite  easy.  Please,  dear  young  Lady, 
before  reading  farther,  remember  that  we  are  speaking 
of  a  high  and  holy  mystery,  whicli  we  Christians,  we  Catholic 
Christians  at  least,  receive  upon  simple  faith  on  the  strength 
of  a  divine  revelation  transmitted  to  us  from  the  incarnate 
Son  of  God  Himself,  through  that  ancient  and  holy  Church, 
which  He  Himself  established.  A  mystery  it  must  remain  in 
spite  of  all  my  explanations.  How  can  it  be  otherwise  than 
a  mystery,  since  there  is  question  here  of  the  intimate  life 
•of  the  eternal  and  unfathomable  God?  All  I  shall  attempt 
to  do  is,  to  explain  away  all  seeming  contradiction  to  your 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         177 

reason,  for  I  acknowledge  that  your  reason  is  to  you  a  Divine 
gift,  and  it  would  be  an  attack  upon  the  sacred  rights  in 
which  you  were  created  to  ask  you  to  believe  what  reason 
really  and  evidently  contradicts.  We  Catholic  priests  are 
great  dogmatizers  I  acknowledge,  for  we  believe  in  holding 
rigidly  to  the  ancient  faith;  we  believe  our  reason  to  be 
limited,  but  we  have  no  idea  of  abdicating  it,  and  I  should  be 
sorry  to  see  you  abdicate  yours.  Happy  shall  I  be,  if  I  can 
lead  your  heart  to  embrace  the  true  idea  of  God  in  Trinity, 
with  permission  of  your  reason!  The  steps  by  which  I  would 
propose  to  conduct  your  mind,  not  to  the  demonstration,  nor 
even  just  now  to  any  external  proofs  of  the  Trinity,  but  to 
an  intelligent  conception  of  our  doctrine  —  these  steps,  I  say, 
are  three.  1.  That  the  intimate  life  of  God  is  necessarily  a 
life  of  interior  relations.  2.  These  relations  are  naturally 
neither  more  nor  less  than  three.  3.  These  interior  relations 
although  dictinct  in  respect  to  each  other  are  all  equally 
infinite,  etc.,  and  constitute  one  only  Divine  life.  If,  without 
appealing  to  Revelation,  I  am  able  to  make  this  apparent,  you 
will  find  your  reason  prepared  for  the  revealed  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity  and  a  few  words  more  will  make  the  meaning  of 
Sacred  Scripture  apparent  also. 

In  this,  we  agree,  do  we  not,  that  there  is  but  one  God. 
But  by  this  we  do  not  mean  to  say  that  God  is  unity,  and 
nothing  else.  Simple  unity,  or  unity  without  contents  or 
interior  relations,  is  a  mere  abstract  idea.  But  God  is  no  ab- 
straction. He  is  not  a  being  in  the  abstract,  for  that  is  no 
real  being  at  all;  but  He  is  a  real,  living  and,  therefore,  con- 
crete Being,  not  indeed  made  up  of  parts,  but  yet  consisting 
of  interior  relations.  Abstract  oneness,  or  a  naked  and  empty 
unity,  can  never  be  the  equivalent  of  God  in  a  mind  which 
believes  in  a  real  and  living  God.  When  the  Unitarian  says 
one,  he  still  asks,  one  what?  The  answer  is  one  God  which 
implies  even  with  him  something  more  than  unity.  It  im- 
plies unity  with  certain  real  and  necessary  contents  which 
constitute  a  living  or  actual  being.  God  is  not  a  mere 
creature  or  theorem  of  the  human  mind,  but  one  living  and 
true  God,  existing  in  and  of  Himself  prior  to  every  created 
mind,  whether  human  or  angelic. 

To  be  sure,  God  is  one  in  a  manner  in  which  no  other 
being  is  one.     When,  for  instance,  I  say  one  man,  the  man  I 


178     Life  Sketches  of  Fathee  Wal worth. 

speak  of  is  a  unit  which  supposes  other  units  or  other  beings 
that  I  may  call  one  in  the  same  sense.  God,  however,  is 
not  one  in  the  same  sense  of  one  out  of  a  number.  He 
is  not  a  numeral  but  a  supernumeral  unit.  His  is  an 
universal,  all-embracing,  all-sufficing  unity.  He  is  that  One 
in  whom  "All  things  live  and  move  and  have  being."  This, 
however,  must  not  lead  us  to  the  idea  of  God  as  a  pantheistic 
abstraction  or  generalization  wrought  out  of  our  own  minds. 
He  is  a  real,  living,  complete,  independent  and  self-sufficing, 
as  well  as  infinite  and  universal  Being,  including  in  himself 
intrinsically  the  principle  of  unity  and  that  of  multiplicity, 
of  identity  and  diversity.  For  these  principles  are  manifest 
in  creation;  but  how  could  they  exist  in  the  creation,  which 
is  a  faint  image  of  God,  except  they  existed  primarily  in  the 
great  Archetype?  //  God  were  simply  one  and  nothing  more, 
an  unity  without  interior  relations,  he  would,  therefore,  he 
icithout  life. 

The  same  supposition  would  destroy  also  the  idea  of  Divine 
beauty.  What  is  beauty  but  the  result  of  order,  and  how  can 
order  exist  without  multiplicity?  Where  order  reigns,  its 
rule  is  between  two  or  more  terms,  and  it  constitutes  the 
relation  of  these  to  each  other.  Now  infinite  beautv  is  cer- 
tainly  an  attribute  of  God.  But  where  is  it  seated?  Not  in 
creation,  for  God  was  beautiful  before  creation  had  beginning, 
and  the  beauty  of  creation  is  but  a  faint,  shadowy  copy  of  his 
own  infinite  loveliness.  The  Divine  beauty,  therefore,  must  be 
sought  for  in  the  intimate  life  of  God,  that  is,  in  the  interior 
and  necessary  relations  which  subsist  in  his  own  being.  The 
infinite  order  and  harmony  of  these  relations  constitute  that 
infinite  beauty.  Try  to  fix  this  in  your  mind,  dear  young 
Lady,  that  God  is  a  concrete  and  not  an  abstract  being  —  a 
Being  that  consists  necessarily  of  interior  and  constituent 
relations,  His  unity  constituted  or  made  up  of  these  relations. 
For  my  part,  I  cannot  otherwise  conceive  of  God  as  a  living 
being.     Can  you? 

If  you  have  understood  me  thus  far,  then  let  me  advance 
another  step,  but  cautiously,  for  I  fear  you  will  find  what  is 
to  come  still  deeper  and  more  difficult;  but  the  difficulty  is 
not  yet  in  the  obscurity  of  the  subject  so  much  as  in  the  con- 
centration of  thought  which  is  required.  I  have  just  said 
that  to  find  these  necessary  interior  relations  which  consti- 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         179 

tute  the  Divine  unity,  we  must  search  for  them  in  the  intimate 
or  interior  life  of  God.  But  the  life  of  God  consists  essentially 
in  His  activity.  What  is  all  life  but  activity?  And  the  life 
of  God,  what  but  infinite  activity?  To  say  that  God  lives  is 
to  say  that  He  acts.  But  action  supposes  movement,  and 
movement  supposes  an  aim  or  end,  a  goal,  a  term  to  which 
the  living  being  aspires.  Why  do  I  move?  It  is  to  do  some- 
thing. To  do  is  the  motive  of  my  action,  and  something  done 
is  the  term,  or  result,  or  product  of  my  activity.  Productive- 
ness is  thus  an  essential  and  constituent  quality  of  activity, 
and  production  is  its  final  term.  So  then  we  are  brought  to 
this:  A  living  being  is  necessarily  an  active  being,  and  an 
active  being  is  necessarily  a  productive  being,  and  a  pro- 
ductive being  supposes  the  bringing  forth  of  something  which 
is  the  product  of  his  activity.  Fertility  or  fecundity  is  thus 
a  necessary  law  of  life,  and  it  must  be  an  attribute  of  God 
as  a  living  being,  or  a  necessity  of  his  Divine  life. 

But  this  necessity  in  God  is  not  satisfied  by  the  creation 
of  the  wTorld,  nor  can  any  creation  satisfy  it.  Indeed  no 
sound  theologian  holds  that  God  was  or  can  be  under  any 
necessity  to  create.  And  even  if  he  were,  no  created  things 
could  ever  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  this  law  of  fecundity  which 
we  have  seen  to  be  an  attribute  of  God,  and,  therefore,  infinite. 
For  the  law  of  activity  is  that  a  being  must  produce  in  the 
proportion  of  its  activity,  and  the  life  or  activity  of  God 
being  infinite,  the  result  of  that  activity  must  be  the  produc- 
tion of  something  also  infinite  like  itself.  True,  we  can  con- 
ceive of  a  production  inferior  to  the  being  from  which  it 
emanates,  but  this  will  be  accessory  and  incidental  and  not 
the  principal  act  of  life.  Every  being  tends  to  produce  in  the 
plenitude  of  its  faculties,  because  its  tendency  is  to  live  the 
plenitude  of  its  own  life,  and  it  attains  to  this  natural  term 
of  its  ambition  only  by  producing  out  of  the  activity  of  its 
own  life  something  equal  to  itself.  The  life  or  activity, 
therefore,  of  a  being  is  measured  by  its  fecundity,  and  so  must 
it  be  with  God. 

It  is  so  in  man.  The  principle  of  fecundity  or  paternity  in 
man  is  twofold,  man  being  of  a  twofold  nature,  animal  and 
spiritual.  This  first  is  satisfied  by  the  production  of  natural 
born  children  like  himself,  and  equal  to  himself.  But  as  a 
spiritual    being   composed    of    intellect    and    will,    the    life    of 


180     Life  Sketches  oe  Father  Walworth. 

man  requires  a  higher  and  nobler  generation  to  correspond 
to  its  activity.  He  must  give  birth  to  aspirations,  and  gener- 
ate thoughts;  these  constitute  his  life  as  a  spiritual  being. 
These  conceptions  of  his  mind,  and  aspirations  of  his  heart  or 
will,  are  at  once  the  productions  of  his  soul  and  constitute  its 
natural  life.  If  those  men  who  follow  the  lower  instincts  of 
their  nature  to  the  neglect  —  the  comparative  neglect  at  least 
—  of  the  nobler  instincts  of  the  soul,  if  these  men  are  neces- 
sarily miserable  and  unhappy,  what  does  this  prove  except 
what  I  have  already  said,  that  every  being  tends  to  produce 
in  the  plenitude  of  its  faculties,  and  that  in  every  being  the 
fullness  of  its  life  is  measured  by  its  fecundity.  It  would  not 
be  difficult  to  show  how  this  law  of  fecundity,  this  law  by 
which  a  being  must  reproduce  of  its  own  kind,  extends  to  all 
creatures  of  every  rank  and  order,  even  to  inorganic  things 
which  possess  a  certain  innate  force  of  drawing  and  aggre- 
gating to  themselves  foreign  substances  to  which  they  com- 
municate their  own  vital  energy.  Life,  activity,  fecundity  — 
these  are  characteristics  of  every  created  thing;  are  they  not 
characteristics  of  the  Creator?  If  the  power  to  reproduce 
itself  is  a  perfection  in  the  creature,  shall  we  not  look  for  a 
corresponding  perfection  in  the  Creator,  who  is  also  the 
Archetype  of  all  things?  Is  God  alone  childless?  In  other 
words,  setting  aside  all  thought  of  creation,  and  referring  to 
God  alone  as  he  exists  in  Himself,  as  he  existed  before  anv 
creature  came  into  being,  is  there  not  to  be  found  in  that 
very  divine  life  itself  the  necessary  and  essential  relationship 
of  parent  and  child?  Is  not  God  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word 
a  Father,  and  in  the  like  sense  a  Son,  comprising  or  compre- 
hending these  two  relationships  —  this  one  relationship.  I 
should  sav  —  within  the  single  circle  of  his  own  infinite  life? 
If  philosophy  itself  without  Revelation  indicates  (and  I  think 
it  does)  a  Divine  sonship  like  this, then  that  Son  must  partake 
in  all  its  fullness  of  the  Divine  life  of  the  Father,  and  be  what 
the  Nicene  Creed  says  of  Him,  "the  only  begotten  Son  of  God," 
that  is,  Son  in  such  a  sense  as  we  are  not  and  no  created  thing 
can  be,  "  born  of  the  Father  before  all  worlds,"  that  is, 
eternal  like  the  Father,  being  a  constituent  and  necessary 
element  of  the  godhead  itself,  "  God  of  God  —  light  of  light  — 
true  God  of  true  God  —  begotten,  not  made  —  consubstantial 
with   the   Father,"   or  to  use   the  expression  of  the   Apostle 


Correspondence  with   Converts.        181 

Paul,  "  the  express  image  of  his  substance."  If  the  Son  of 
God,  however,  were  ''  equal  to  the  Father,"  as  you  say  in  your 
declaration  of  faith,  "  by  a  delegated  power  "  only,  and  not 
by  virture  of  his  own  inherent  and  eternal  divinity,  this 
would  not  give  to  the  Deity  even  what  philosophy  requires, 
a  concrete  unity,  an  unity  composed  of  interior  relations,  a 
truly  interior  life,  a  life  of  activity,  and,  therefore,  as  I  have 
endeavored  to  show,  of  infinite  and  eternal  fecundity.  Neither 
—  pardon  me  the  digression  —  would  it  at  all  correspond  to 
the  language  of  Holy  Scripture,  in  particular,  the  first  chap- 
ter of  the  Hebrews  where,  although  some  of  the  expressions 
can  only  apply  to  our  Lord  after  his  incarnation,  when  already 
clothed  in  his  human  character  (e.  g.  verse  9)  yet  He  is  also 
distinctly  spoken  of  as  the  maker  of  the  world,  the  heir  of 
all  things,  the  splendor  of  God's  glory,  the  figure,  character 
or  express  image  of  His  substance,  upholding  all  things  by 
the  word  of  his  power,  and  superior  to  the  Angels,  not  only  in 
this  that  He  is  called  Son,  but  because  to  that  Son  alone 
could  be  said :     "  Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever." 

I  understand  very  well  that  I  have  not  met  your  chief  diffi- 
culty yet,  although,  as  I  trust,  I  have  paved  the  way  to  it. 
Patience,  dear  young  Lady,  have  patience  in  the  starlight,  by 
the  grace  of  God  we  may  yet  see  the  morning  break.  Let  us 
now  return  to  our  philosophy,  and  to  those  interior  relations 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  constitute  the  true  unity,  the  essen- 
tial life  of  God  as  a  concrete  and  not  an  abstract  being. 

God,  I  have  said,  is  inconceivable  as  living  being,  unless 
we  conceive  of  Him  as  acting.  To  live  is  to  act.  God  cannot 
be  actual  unless  He  acts,  for  without  acting,  He  can  be  con- 
ceived only  as  potential,  or  as  an  inert,  idle  being,  an  un- 
occupied intelligence  with  a  capacity  to  act.  To  conceive  of 
Him  so  is  to  conceive  of  Him  as  existing  prior  to  action,  a 
slumbering  deity,  which  could  only  find  lodgment  in  the  brain 
of  a  materialist.  All  action  in  God  must  be  eternal  and 
infinite.  In  Him  is  infinite  and  eternal  power  to  act,  in 
infinite  and  eternal  exercise.  To  be  eternally  and  infinitely 
living  is  to  be  eternally  and  infinitely  acting,  is  to  be  all  act. 
And,  therefore,  philosophers  and  theologians  term  God,  in 
scholastic  language,  "  most  pure  act."  In  other  words,  His 
interior  or  intimate  life  is  not  made  up  of  a  succession  of  acts 
(which  would  be  to  live  in  time)  ;  His  whole  life  is  but  one 


182     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

infinite  and  eternal  act  (which  is  to  live  in  eternity).  Let 
us  now  reverently  endeavor  to  scrutinize  this  life-act  of  God. 
We  may  glean  from  it  something  to  throw  light  upon  the 
Trinity,  for  in  truth  that  act  is  the  Trinity. 

God  being  spirit,  His  interior  life  consists  in  the  eternal 
and  infinite  activity  of  His  intelligence  and  His  will,  or  (what 
in  God  is  the  same  thing)  His  infinite  self -consciousness  and 
self-adhesion;  and  it  is  in  these  that  we  must  seek  for  those 
interior  relations  which  constitute  His  real,  living  and  there- 
fore concrete  unity.  Now,  the  intelligence  to  be  actual  must 
express  itself,  at  least  interiorly;  and  to  be  infinite  it  must 
have  an  infinite  expression,  and  the  same  is  to  be  said  of  the 
will.  In  God  these  two  faculities,  or  life  powers,  are  per- 
fectly commensurate,  equal  and  simultaneous,  each  infinite 
and  each  eternal,  only  that  in  logical  order  the  intelligence 
is  prior.  In  finite  man,  the  priority  of  order  supposes  a  prior- 
ity of  time.  We  first  look  and  then  love.  Not  so  in  the 
divinity,  where  all  is  infinite.  Between  the  intelligence  and 
the  will  of  God  there  can  be  no  priority  of  action  in  point  of 
time;  but  still  the  logical  precedence  of  order  exists.  It  is 
in  the  eternal  contemplation  of  His  own  goodness  and  beauty 
that  His  infinite  will  is  eternally  kindled  into  love.  There- 
fore, in  contemplating  and  studying  the  being  of  God  in  its 
interior  relations,  we  commence  naturally  and  logically  with 
His  intelligence.  What  follows  I  give  you  in  the  beautiful 
and  expressive  language  of  Father  Lacordaire: 

"  God  being  a  spirit,  His  first  act,  therefore,  is  to  think. 
But  His  thought  is  not  multiplex  and  successive  like  ours, 
born  only  to  die,  and  dying  to  be  born  again.  Ours  is  multi- 
plex, because  being  finite  we  are  not  able  to  represent  the 
objects  presented  to  our  intelligence  except  one  by  one.  Our 
thought  is  perishable,  because  our  ideas  pressing  one  after  the 
other,  the  second  dethrones  the  first,  and  the  third  drives 
out  the  second.  On  the  contrary  in  God,  whose  activity  is 
infinite,  the  mind  begets  all  at  once  a  thought  equal  to  itself, 
as  vast  as  itself,  one  which  represents  it  entirely:  and  there 
is  no  need  of  a  second,  because  the  first  has  exhausted  all  that 
can  be  known,  that  is  to  say,  the  abyss  of  the  infinite.  That 
one,  absolute  thought,  first  born  and  last  born  of  the  mind 
of  God,  remains  eternally  in  His  presence  as  an  exact  repre- 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         183 

sentation  of  Himself,  or  to  use  the  language  of  Holy  Scripture, 
as  His  image,  '  the  splendor  of  his  glory,  and  the  express  image 
of  his  substance.'     It  is  His  Word,  His  interior  word,  as  our 
thought  is  also  our  word  inwardly  spoken,  or  spoken  to  our- 
selves.    But  there  is  this  difference:     God's  word  is  a  perfect 
word  which  says  all  that  can  be  said  in  one  utterance,  which 
is  eternally  spoken  without  repetition.     This  is  the  word  to 
which  St.  John  refers,  when  he  opens  thus  his  sublime  gospel: 
'In  the   beginning  was   the   Word,   and   the   Word  was   with 
God,  and  the  Word  tvas  God:     Does  not  the  morning  begin 
to  break  now,  dear  young  Lady?     Can  you  not  catch  a  faint 
glimpse  of  those  interior  relations  which  constitute  the  true 
unity,  that  wondrous  infinite  movement  which  constitutes  the 
true   life   of   God?      But   we   are   not   yet   at  the  end   of  our 
journey.     Let  me  quote  a  little  further. 

"  In  the  same  way  that  in  man  his  thought  is  distinct  from 
his   mind   without   being   separated   from   it,   so   in   God,   His 
thought  or  intimate  Word  is  distinct  without  being  separated 
from  the  divine  mind  which  engenders  it.     The  Word  is  con- 
substantial  to  the  Father,  according  to  the  expression  of  the 
Council  of  Nice  which  is  only  the  energetic  expression  of  the 
truth.     But  here,  as  elsewhere,  there  is  between  God  and  man 
a  great  difference.     In  man  his  thought  is  distinct  from  his 
mind  with  an  imperfect  distinction,  because  it  is  finite,  and 
has  no  subsistence  of  its  own;   in  God,  however,  His  thought 
is  distinct  from  His  mind  with  a  perfect  distinction,  because 
it  is  infinite."     That  is  to  say,  it  goes  so  far  as  to  assume 
a  distinct  subsistence,  a  personality,  although  never  separating 
from  the  Divine  essence,  never  quitting  the  circle  of  the  Divine 
life,  but  resting  eternally  in  the  bosom  of  the  eternal  Father 
in  the  unity  of  the  same  godhead.     "  The  mystery  of  unity  in 
plurality   never   accomplishes    itself    in   our    intelligence,    and 
this   is   the   reason  why  we   cannot  live   in  ourselves  and   of 
ourselves  alone.     We  seek  outside  of  ourselves  for  the  aliment 
of  our  lives.     We  must  go  abroad  for  our  society,  and  seek 
there  a  thought  which  is  not  ourself,  but  only  akin  to  us.    But 
with  God,  it  is  otherwise.     In  Him  plurality  is  as  absolute 
as   unity,   and,  therefore,   His   life   is   passed  entirely  within 
Himself   in  the   ineffable   interlocution   of   divine   person   with 
divine    person,    of    the    unborn    Father    with    His    eternally 


184     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

begotten  Son.  God  thinks,  and  in  that  thought  He  sees 
Himself  as  in  another,  but  as  in  another  who  is  so  near  to 
Him  as  to  be  only  one  substance  with  Himself.  In  contem- 
plating His  own  thought,  beholding  His  own  image,  listening 
to  His  own  Word,  He  can  say  in  the  ecstasy  of  the  first  and 
most  real  of  all  paternities  that  word  which  David  heard: 
'  Thou  art  my  Son,  to-day  I  have  begotten  thee.'  To-day!  in 
this  day  which  has  no  past,  no  present,  no  future;  in  this 
day  which  is  the  indivisible  duration  of  changeless  being, 
which  is  eternity/' 

But  thus  far  we  have  contemplated  only  the  divine  intelli- 
gence and  left  untouched  the  divine  will.  The  action  of  the 
divine  will,  however,  is  necessary  to  complete  the  divine  life. 
And  in  considering  this  we  shall  see  arise  in  the  field  of  our 
vision  another  august  form  if  I  may  so  name  it,  the  adorable 
third  Person  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us  listen  once  more  to 
Father  Lacordaire.  There  is  a  charm  in  his  language  that 
relieves  the  labor  of  the  mind :  "  The  generation  of  the  Son 
is  not  the  only  divine  act "  ( or  rather,  not  the  whole  of  that 
one  great  infinite  act  which  constitutes  the  life  of  God. )  "  It 
does  not  consummate  His  fecundity,  nor  complete  His  felicity. 
No,  for  not  even  in  ourselves  is  the  generation  of  thought 
the  term  where  our  life  stops.  When  we  have  thought,  a 
second  act  is  produced;  we  love.  Thought  in  us  is  a  look  of 
the  soul  which  draws  its  object  within  the  soul ;  love,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  a  movement  which  draws  us  out  of  ourselves 
toward  that  object  to  unite  ourselves  to  it,  and  it  to  us,  thus 
accomplishing  fully  the  mystery  of  relations,  that  is,  the 
mystery  of  unity  in  plurality.  Here  is  plurality;  for  love  is 
at  the  same  time  distinct  from  the  mind,  and  distinct  from 
the  thought.  Here  is  unity  too;  for  while  it  proceeds  from 
one  and  the  other,  it  is  after  all  the  same  thing  essentially 
with  both.  It  proceeds  from  the  mind  of  which  it  is  the  act, 
and  from  the  thought  without  which  the  mind  would  not  see 
the  object  which  it  should  love;  and  yet  it  remains  one  with 
both  thought  and  mind  in  the  same  life-circle,  where  we 
still  find  all  three,  ever  distinct  and  ever  inseparable." 

It  is  the  same  thing  in  God,  with  that  difference  only  which 
exists  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite. 

"  From  that  coeternal,  mutual  regard  which  is  interchanged 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         185 

between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  there  is  born  a  third  term 
of  relation,  proceeding  from  both,  really  distinct  from  both, 
and  elevated  by  virtue  of  its  infinity  even  to  a  personality, 
and  which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  is  to  say  the  holy  move- 
ment, the  measureless  and  spotless  movement  of  divine  love. 
Thus,  as  in  God  the  principle  of  intelligence  is  exhausted 
(that  is,  fulfilled  or  satisfied)  by  the  generation  of  the  Son, 
so  love  is  exhausted  in  the  production  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  by  Him  is  completed  the  cycle  of  fecundity  (productive 
activity)    in  the  divine  life." 

What  have  we  gained  then,  my  dear  young  friend,  by  this 
philosophical  analysis?  We  have  found  a  Trinity  or  three 
necessary  terms  of  relationship  in  the  Divine  life,  all  three 
belonging  to  it  essentially,  that  is  consubstantial  with  it,  by 
the  very  necessity  of  its  constitution  as  a  concrete,  active,  pro- 
ductive, infinitely  intelligent  and  moral  life.  I  do  not  profess 
to  have  demonstrated  the  Christian  Trinity  by  philosophical 
argument  alone;  but  receiving  by  faith,  as  you  and  I  do,  the 
New  Testament  revelation,  and  finding  there  the  account  of  a 
wondrous  Person  descending  from  Heaven  to  clothe  Himself 
with  humanity,  who  styles  Himself  the  Son  of  God,  and  arro- 
gates the  incommunicable  powers  of  divinity;  who  speaks 
nevertheless  of  another  person,  distinct  from  Himself  in  some 
respect,  and  yet  after  all  one  with  Him,  the  Father ;  who  tells 
us  still  of  a  third  Person  distinct  from  the  Father  and  from 
Himself,  because  sent  by  one  and  both,  and  yet  whose  very 
name  "Holy  Ghost,"  shows  him  to  us  as  divine;  who  unites 
together  the  authority  of  all  three  in  the  great  commission 
given  to  the  Apostles  (Matt.  28) — I  say,  when  by  faith  we 
accept  this  account,  then  philosophy  which  is  nothing  else 
but  the  necessary  law  of  human  reason  requires  us  to  sub- 
scribe to  the  Catholic  creed:  "I  believe  in  God  the  Father 
Almighty  —  and  in  Jesus  Christ  His  only  Son,  true  God  of 
true  God,  consubstantial  with  the  Father;  and  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  the  Lord  and  life- giver ;  "  all  three  distinct  from  each 
other  only  in  the  interior  pulsation  of  the  divine  life,  but 
one  with  each  other  in  the  solidarity  of  the  same  divine 
and  indivisible  essence. 

Pardon  me,  dear  young  Lady,  for  not  taking  up  your  diffi- 
culties in  the  same  way  in  which  you  present  them.    It  seemed 


186     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

to  me  that  your  real  difficulty  was  simply  a  philosophical  one, 
and  that  if  I  could  show  you  how  God,  although  simple  and 
indivisible  in  substance,  is  nevertheless  multiplex  or  complex 
in  the  infinite  movement  of  his  interior  life,  that  then  your 
difficulty  would  disappear  of  itself.  At  all  events  I  have  made 
the  experiment,  and  shall  wait  for  your  answer  to  see  how  I 
have  succeeded.  Do  not  become  weary  of  the  mental  appli- 
cation which  my  argument  requires,  and  yet  read  quietly  and 
without  anxiety.  Time  and  repetition  will  make,  I  trust,  all 
that  seems  at  first  difficult  or  obscure  to  become  clear,  for  I 
am  confident  there  is  nothing  in  what  I  have  written  that  an 
intelligent  mind  like  yours  cannot  grasp.  Or,  if  it  should 
be  necessary,  I  will  endeavor  at  another  time  to  approach  this 
subject  on  a  different  side.  In  the  meantime,  I  will  pray 
earnestlv  that  God  ma?  give  vou  the  grace  to  know  Him  with 
a  clear  unclouded  faith,  as  He  reallv  is  and  has  revealed 
Himself  to  us  in  His  holy  church,  a  sacred  family  of  three 
Persons  in  the  unity  of  one  divine  life. 

With  the  most  sincere  respect  and  interest, 

Yours  truly, 

CLARENCE  WALWORTH. 
Miss  X : 

P.  S. —  The  labor  which  I  have  bestowed  upon  this  letter  has 
given  it  some  additional  interest  and  value  in  my  eyes,  and  I 
would  be  glad  to  retain  a  copy,  but  am  absolutely  unable  to 
copy  it  engrossed  as  my  time  is.  May  I  request  that  you  will 
return  it  when  vou  have  done  with  it,  or.  if  vou  think  it  worth 
the  trouble,  will  send  me  a  copy? 

The  original  letter  was  eventually  returned,  and 

was  used  in  preparing  the  article  on  the  Trinity 

which  appeared  in  course  of  time  in  The  Catholic 

World. 

X  — to  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth 

W ,  Vt.,  Apr.  7th. 

Rev.  &  Dear  Sir  —  Your  very  kind  letter  having  been  re- 
tained by  A  to  copy,  you  will  pardon  this  tardiness  in  ac- 
knowledging and  returning  the  same. 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         187 

Its  contents  are  so  faithfully  transcribed  to  memory,  so 
cordially,  gratefully  and  unconditionally  accepted  by  mind 
and  heart,  that  I  have  hardly  need  to  retain  a  copy  for 
myself  and  A's  will  suffice  for  reference  to  a  dear  friend, 
similarly  benighted. 

Admitting  that  the  original  manuscript  has  for  me  a  pleas- 
ant value  beyond  any  copy,  I  return  it  the  more  cheerfully 
in  the  hope  that  this  "corruptible"  manuscript  may  some- 
time put  on  "  incorruptible  "  letter-press ;  so  supplying  in  its 
clearness,  conciseness  and  reasonableness  a  great  desideratum 
to  many  an  earnest,  sorrowful  seeker  of  the  Truth. 

The  superior  insight  of  my  needs,  coupled  with  the  great 
precision  of  thought  and  felicity  of  expression,  lifted  me  at 
once  into  your  own  thought,  and  sustained  me  there  until 
conviction  was  rendered  doubly  sure.  Just  when  I  found  my 
mind  perplexed  in  the  argument,  came  your  kindly 
"  Patience  "  —  and  the  very  moment  I  had  said  to  myself 
"  Light  —  Light "  came  the  inquiry,  "  Is  not  the  night 
breaking?  " 

From  thankful  joy  in  the  assurance  "  You  believe  enough 
to  carry  with  it  the  entire  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Trinity," 
I  rose  to  the  unconditional  acceptance  of  "  God  in  the  Trinity 
with  permission  of  my  reason." 

Nor   am   I   conscious   of   any   essential    modification   of   my 
views;   only,  by  a  gracious  providence  you  have  revealed  me 
more   clearly  to  myself  and  have,   I  believe,   forever   "  laid  ' 
some  unquiet  doubts,  and  strengthened  into  convictions  many 
vague  half-analyzed  impressions. 

For  all  this  I  am  deeply  grateful!  I  esteem  it  a  Divine 
providence  that  I  was  finally  directed  to  one  so  generous  to 
labor  for  my  good. —  so  wise  and  humble  and  patient  to  teach. 

Doubtless  many  of  my  perplexities  have  arisen  in  the  igno- 
rance of  many  of  the  Protestant  laity  and  clergy  of  the  real 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  demanding  of  me  the  acceptance  of 
such  contradictions  and  absurdities  as  were  not  only  disheart- 
ening  but  —  well  —  exasperating,    an   outrage    to    reason    and 


common  sense 


Our  Episcopal  Bishop,  to  whom  I  once  presented  myself  for 
confirmation,  pronounced  my  views  Unitarian,  although  quite 
willing  to  receive  me  into  the  Church. 


188     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

I  could  not  find  it  right  to  recite  a  Trini  creed  with  Uni 
sentiments.  In  the  journey  so  auspiciously  commenced,  I  may 
again  and  again  come  to  my  Spiritual  Guide,  before  the  Goal 
is  reached,  with  his  kind  permission  —  (of  which,  I  am  sure, 
I  am  already  possessed.) 

With  supplications  for  your  prayers  and  renewed  assur- 
ances of  the  most  grateful  consideration, 

Very  respectfully, 

X. 

P.  S. —  Should  a  generous  interest  prompt  to  further  com- 
munications, you  will  still  please  to  address  under  cover  to  A. 

Rev.  A.  Regnier,  S.  J.,  to  the  Same. 

St.  Joseph's  Church, 

Troy,  July  21,  1866. 

Dear  Rev.  Sir  —  The  lady  convert  whom  you  were  pleased 
to  send  to  me  came  yesterday.  She  was  introduced  by  one 
of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  who  had  traveled  with  her  from 
Saratoga.  I  have  attended  to  this  interesting  and  indeed 
most  consoling  case  with  great  care  and  to  the  best  of  my 
ability.  And  thanks  to  your  valuable  information  and  excel- 
lent recommendations,  I  fondly  hope  to  have  been  instrumental 
in  realizing  your  kind  and  earnest  wishes  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  good  Lady.  She  arrived  here  at  about  10 
o'clock  a.  m.,  and  half  an  hour  after,  she  had  gone  through 
her  confession.  This  first  step,  as  might  be  expected,  cost  her 
a  great  deal.  She  was  on  the  point  of  fainting  when  about  to 
enter  the  Confessional,  but  she  was  quite  relieved  when  this 
was  over,  and  indeed  appeared  perfectly  happy  ever  since.  She 
made  her  abjuration  and  was  baptised  conditionally  at  6 
o'clock  in  the  evening  in  the  presence  of  a  Lady  friend  who 
stood  for  her,  and  of  two  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  also  of 
two  other  ladies  who  happened  to  be  in  the  church  at  the 
time.  She  went  through  the  long  ceremonies  of  the  baptism 
of  adults  with  remarkable  fortitude,  with  the  simplicity  of 
a  child,  and  with  all  the  piety  and  fervor  of  primitive  Chris- 
tians. Finally  I  hear  that  she  received  Holy  Communion 
this  morning,  at  6  o'clock  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Sisters.  I  send 
you  all  these  details,  for  I  know  they  will  be  as  consoling  to 
you  as  they  were  edifying  to  those  who  witnessed  them  here. 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         189 

I  was  out  this  morning  and  could  not  see  the  lady  before  she 
left.  She  had  kindly  asked  of  me  a  card  with  my  name  on  it. 
Would  you  be  so  kind  as  to  forward  the  enclosed  little  picture 
to  her?  I  have  not  her  exact  address  and  I  cannot  otherwise 
very  well  do  it. 

With  many  thanks  for  the  pleasure  which  this  occasion  and 
your  kind  confidence  have  afforded  me.  I  remain,  dear  Rev. 

Sir,  Most  truly  yours  in  Xt., 

A.  REGNIER,  S.  J. 

From  Rev.  E.  Wadhams,  to  Rev.  C.  Walworth.  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Rome,  Italy,  Dec.  22,  1865. 

My  Dear  Walworth  —  Many,  many  years  ago,  I  received 
letters  from  you  written  from  Holland  and  England,*  and 
still  remember  how  I  envied  you  because  you  were  in  Europe. 
Now  I  am  at  Rome,  Italy,  and  about  to  address  you  a  letter, 
not  for  the  purpose  of  causing  you  to  wish  to  be  in  my  place 
or  with  me  even;  but  to  perform  a  duty  that  I  ought  to  have 
done  long  ago,  and  one  that  will  give  me  quite  as  much  pleas- 
ure and  even  more,  perhaps,  than  it  will  yourself. 

Since  I  sailed  from  America,  no  day  has  passed  in  which 
you,  Father  Ludden  and  all  connected  with  the  house  have 
not  been  in  my  mind,  and  always  in  my  prayers. 

The  excitement  attending  the  packing  of  my  trunk  and  all 
the  speeches  you  made  me  are  remembered,  and  still  I  have 
not  written  to  you,  and  that  neglect  I  feel  even  more  than  I 
can  tell,  now  that  I  make  the  first  essay.  Hereafter,  I  will 
have  more  patience  with  the  remissness  of  travelers. 

I  am  in  Rome,  and  assisted  at  a  solemn  Pontifical  Mass 
to-day  at  the  Church  of  Santa  Maria  Cosmidene,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  funeral  of  Cardinal  Chaceio.  The  Mass  was  at  10 
o'clock.  The  Holy  Father  and  a  large  number  of  Cardinals 
were  in  attendance,  the  Holy  Father  assisting  at  the  Mass  and 
giving  absolution  at  the  end. 

Our  party  had  a  place  not  more  than  ten  feet  from  the 
Chapel  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  where  the  Pope  knelt  for 
sometime  after  entering  the  Church;  so  that  I  had  a  most  ex- 


*  For  those   letters  see  "  Reminiscences  of  Edgar  P.  Wadhams," 
by  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth  ;  Benziger  Bros.     1893. 


190     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

cellent  view  of  him,  and  a  still  better  one  when  he  was  seated 
on  a  temporary  throne  near  the  brilliant  chapel  in  which  the 
body  of  the  deceased  Cardinal  lay.  The  pictures  of  the  Pope 
which  we  have  are  very  correct  likenesses  of  him.  His 
countenance  is  heavenly,  his  step  firm  and  his  voice  as  musi- 
cal as  ever.  The  Pope's  Choir  was  in  attendance,  giving  me 
an  opportunity  to  hear  the  music  of  the  "  Dies  Irae  "  and 
"Offertory'1  which  is  so  remarkable  and  which  pleases  me 
more  than  I  can  tell. 

In  the  afternoon,  Father  Everett  and  I  took  a  walk  along 
the  Corso  to  the  Piazza  del  Populo,  passing  the  walls  of 
Rome  through  what  Avas  the  old  Flaminian  Gate,  and  then 
we  went  through  the  high  grounds  belonging  to  the  Borghese 
Family  and  obtained  our  first  view  of  the  Dome  of  St.  Peter's 
distant  fully  one  mile  and  a  half.  We  gazed  a  long  time,  as 
it  stood  the  only  object,  save  the  walls  of  Rome  and  tall 
cypress  trees  in  the  foreground,  between  us  and  the  blue 
Italian  skv.     I  left  Father  Everett  and  looked  and  wondered. 

Saturday. —  The  hours  of  to-day  between  1 1  o'clock  a.  m. 
and  4  p.  m.  have  been  spent  in  and  around  St.  Peter's. 
I  have  heard  you  say  that  you  did  not  like  the  colonnade  in 
front  of  it.  I  do  not  believe  you  would  say  so  if  you  saw  it, 
for  no  view  that  I  have  ever  seen  of  it  conveys  an  idea  to  the 
mind  of  the  extent  of  space  or  ground  it  incloses.  The  front 
elevation  of  the  Church  would  appear  to  greater  advantage  if 
the  Vatican  palace  did  not  tower  over  it  so  much  and  crowd 
so  near;  that  is  all  that  may  be  said  in  the  way  of  criticism. 

Mr.  Hooker,  the  American  Banker,  gave  a  musical  party 
in  the  evening.  The  attendance  was  very  large,  chiefly  Ameri- 
cans, and  a  delightful  time  we  had  of  it. 

Sunday. —  Celebrated  Mass  at  the  Church  of  St.  Charles 
Borromeo.  To-morrow  I  go  to  the  American  College  at  5:30 
o'clock  to  celebrate  my  Masses;  and  I  desire  you  especially  to 
tell  Mr.  Morange  that  I  shall  do  here,  as  I  always  did  at 
home,  viz. :  offer  my  first  Mass  for  Him  and  his  family;  and  do 
not  forget  to  remember  me  in  the  kindest  terms  to  them  all. 

We  dine  with  Dr.  Cbatard  also  to-morrow,  after  assisting 
at  the  Pope's  Mass  in  St.  Peter's  at  10  o'clock. 

And  now,  dear  Walworth,  I  must  close  my  very  imperfect 
letter.      Please    remember    me   kindly   to   the    Bishop   and   all 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         191 

members  of  the  House,  to  the  Prestons,  Austins,  O'Callaghans, 
Traceys,  Mr.  Curtin  and  Connick  and  all  friends.  My  address 
is  in  care  of  Messrs.  "  Mackey,  Pakenham  &  Hooker,"  Bank- 
ers, Rome.     *     *     *     Pray  for  me  and  believe  me. 

Ever  sincerely  your  friend, 

E.  P.  WADHAMS. 

From  Father  Hecker,  to  the  Same. 

New  York,  April  23,  1866. 

Dear  Father  Walworth  —  How  comes  on  your  "Tract?' 
The  first  one  is  out.    The  second,  my  own,  will  be  out  in  a  day 
or  two.     Several  others  are  under  way. 

The  tracts  will  be  sold  less  than  cost,  and  for  the  same 
price  anywhere  in  the  country.  It  is  essentially  a  missionary 
enterprise.  The  support  of  it  will  come  mainly  from  the 
income  from  memberships.  At  the  same  time,  it  will  require 
a  general  fund  to  make  up  any  deficit.  I  have  been  engaged 
since  Easter  in  getting  up  this  general  fund.  As  the  interest 
is  equal  everywhere,  the  same  as  in  N.  Y.,  I  hope  the  same 
effort  will  be  made  everyAvhere  as  here.  I  have  subscriptions 
to  the  amount,  up  to  the  present,  of  $9,500.  My  subscribers 
are  divided  into  three  classes:  —  1st,  Apostles,  of  which  I  have 
now  11  —  2nd,  Disciples,  of  which  there  are  7 —  3rd,  Faithful, 
of  which  there  are  18.  The  first  are  down  for  $500  —  2nd, 
$250  —  3rd,  $100.  In  the  latter  are  Abps.  and  priests  mostly. 
There  are  others  of  smaller  amounts. 

The  sympathy  and  co-operation  and  appreciation  of  the 
work  has  surprised  me,  and  made  my  task  light.  Many  of 
the  1st  class  men  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  it  is  the  greatest 
undertaking  started  in  the  Church  in  this  country. 

The  Abp.  of  Bait,  will  have  it  up  before  the  Plenary  Council 
in  October.  For  the  first  time,  I  saw  the  other  day,  that  in 
the  council  of  /52  there  was  a  decree  made  in  favor  of  such  an 
enterprise.  He  proposes  now  that  every  Bishop  should  ap- 
point a  clergyman  to  act  as  its  agent  in  their  dioceses,  and 
take  up  its  interests.     I  enclose  his  tract. 

You  will  perceive  that  about  400  words  make  a  page.  Al- 
lowance should  be  made  for  heading  and  at  the  end.  Your 
tract  of  4pp.  or  8pp.  should  be  made  accordingly. 

We  are  well.     Spencer  and  Dwyer  are  both  here  as  novices; 


192     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

and  are  both  doing  well.  Hewit  teaches  Bodfish  and  Spencer 
theology  &  philosophy,  &.  Young  teaches  Dwyer  Latin.  In 
July  we  take  into  the  house,  the  students  from  Seton  Hall. 
With  Augustine  Brady,  this  will  make  a  band  of  six. 

I  will  send  you  more  tracts  —  as  they  appear. 

Write  me  early  about  your  own  —  and  how  many  you  will 
write  —  /  depend  on  your  pen  for  many  —  I  think  it  is  your 
gift.  Faithfully  yours, 

I.  T.  HECKER. 

From  Father  Hecker  to  the  Same. 

May  30,  I860. 

Dear  Fattier  Walworth  —  I  enclose  two  letters.  One  is  I 
think  from  Dr.  Newman,  Hewit  having  just  rec'd  one  in  the 
same  hand  in  thanks  for  F.  Baker's  life  [i.  e.  the  "Memoirs  "}. 

Your  subscriptions  are  on  hand.  How  are  they  intended? 
As  one  year  subscribers?  Or  shall  we  send  to  that  amount  of 
tracts  now  out?  It  is  impossible  to  send  each  tract  as  it 
appears,  since  the  postage  would  amount  to  more  than  the 
tracts  or  in  any  case  be  too  expensive. 

My  intention  is  to  make  the  book-stores  in  each  place  the 
Depot  for  Tracts  —  until  the  Bishops  appoint  an  agent. 

All  this  will  be  arranged  in  the  Plenary  Council  in  October 
next,  when  the  subject  will  be  brought  up.  Till  then  patienza! 
I  will  send  you  yours  as  you  wish  and  direct. 

The  other  letter  enclosed  —  perhaps,  is  for  you.  If  not  — 
send  it  to  Ballyhack  —  or  the  P.O.  either! 

Your  tract  is  on  hand,  and  read  by  me  twice,  parts  more 
times.  It  is  a  snorter,  and  will  make  feathers  fly ! !  !  I  am 
for  publishing  it,  but  not  by  the  Tract  Society.  It  is  too  big 
a  cannon  for  us  to  fire  in  our  infantile  state.  It  would  knock 
us  over  after  it  had  gone  off. 

What  I  propose  is  to  put  it  in  the  hands  of  the  Temper- 
ance folks,  and  let  them  pub.  &  circulate.  It  will  be  more 
extensively  circulated,  and  they  will  do  it  with  animo.  What 
sav  you?     I  will  see  that  it  is  done. 

Your  pen  is  the  one  for  Tracts.  In  the  start  every  one  is 
polarized,  and  looking  out  to  find  something  to  pitch  into. 
Give  us  a  couple  of  such  as  you  know  are  needed  as  things 
now  are. 


Correspondence  with  Converts.         193 

No.  4  has  been  delayed  for  a  wood-cut,  and  will  be  out 
to-day  or  to-morrow.     No.  6  is  in  hands  of  the  printers. 

All  are  well.  I  am  rejoiced  and  again  rejoiced  at  Mrs. 
Walworth's  conversion.*  Faithfully  yours, 

I.  T.  HECKER. 

Father  Walworth  had  occasional  letters  from 
Father  Hecker  as  well  as  frequent  visits  up  to  the 
time  of  the  latter's  death,  which  occurred  December 
22,  1888.  As  soon  as  he  received,  at  Albany,  the 
news  of  that  sad  event  he  went  to  ISTew  York  and 
attended  the  burial  of  this  beloved  comrade  of  his 
long  missionary  career. 

The  following  letter  from  Newman,  enclosed  with 
the  above,  seems  to  belong  here,  the  original  still 
resting  in  the  same  "  folds "  with  Father  Hecker's 
own,  its  companion  in  the  mail  from  New  York  to 
Albany.    Appleton  had  issued  "  The  Gentle  Skeptic." 

From  John  Henry  Newman,  to  the  Same. 

The  Oratory  Bm.,  May  16,  1866. 

My  Dear  Fr.  Walworth  —  Though  I  have  left  your  kind 
present  of  your  volume  so  long  unacknowledged,  you  must 
not  suppose  it  to  have  been  any  want  of  gratitude  to  you,  or 
any  want  of  interest  in  its  contents.  It  treats  of  one  of  the 
main  religious  difficulties  of  the  day,  and  is  a  noble  attempt 
to  meet  our  needs  —  and  you  deserve  the  thanks  of  all 
Catholics  for  making  it. 

Then,  why  have  I  not  written  to  you  about  it  sooner? 
The  reason  has  been  that  I  am  too  much  perplexed  with  your 


*  This  convert  was  Sarah  Ellen,  second  wife  of  Hon.  Reuben 
H.  Walworth.  She  was  baptised  at  the  Albany  Cathedral,  her 
sponsor  being  Rev.  Theodore  Noethen,  Pastor  of  Holy  Cross 
Church,  Albany.  When  she  returned  to  Saratoga  and  told  her 
husband  with  \some  hesitation  of  her  change  of  faith,  he  con- 
tinued to  look  at  his  newspaper,  saying  curtly:  "Well,  well!' 
Then  she  added  :  "  Now  I  will  need  a  pew  in  St.  Peter's  Church." 
"Well,  well!"  said  he.  "get  it;"  adding  after  a  pause.— "  come 
to  me  for  the  price  of  it."  Then  he  went  on  with  his  reading. 
She  was  a  faithful  Catholic  till  death.  When  too  feeble  to  at- 
tend St.  Peter's  she  had,  in  her  widowhood,  the  privilege  of 
Mass  in  her  home,   Father  Walworth  being  the   celebrant. 


194     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

subject  to  be  able  to  say  anything  upon  it  which  will  be  worth 
saying,  and  I  did  not  like  to  write  without  saying  something. 
My  perplexity  arises  out  of  the  continually  shifting  condition 
of  physical  discoveries,  and  the  indeterminateness  of  what  is 
Catholic  truth  as  regards  their  subject-matter,  and  what  is 
not,  in  a  province  in  which  the  Church  has  not  laid  down  any 
definitions  of  faith.  Xone  but  an  infallible  authority  can 
separate  Apostolical  tradition  from  hereditary  beliefs,  and  till 
this  is  done,  we  must  be  at  sea  how  to  think  and  how  to  speak. 

You  have  opened  the  subject  well  and  boldly  —  and,  while 
a  writer  so  acts,  and  submits  all  he  says  to  the  judgment  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  his  writings  must  tend  to  edification. 
But  I  am  much  interested  to  get  information  as  to  the  matter 
of  fact,  whether  jour  volume  has  been  taken  up,  whether  it 
has  made  a  disturbance,  whether  it  has  elicited  any  other 
works  on  the  subject.  You  are  more  outspoken  in  America 
than  we  are  here.  I  do  not  know  enough  of  the  state  of 
science  and  the  teaching  of  divines  to  know  whether  what  you 
have  said  may  be  safely  said  —  but,  if  I  held  it  ever  so  much, 
I  should  not  dare  to  say  it, —  first  in  consequence  of  the 
scandal  that  it  would  (needlessly)  give  here, —  and  next  be- 
cause T  should  be  involved  in  a  controversy,  for  which  I  have 
neither  time  nor  relish  nor  strength. 

A  letter  like  this  is  a  poor  return  for  your  kindness  —  but 
it  will  be  enough,  I  think,  to  show  why  I  have  delayed  my 
acknowledgments  to  you,  on  an  occasion  when  you  would 
naturally  be  desirous  to  receive  as  many  criticisms  upon  your 
work  as  possible. 

I  am,  my  dear  Father  Walworth,  most  sincerely  yours, 

JOHN  H.  NEWMAN. 

A  Last  Letter  from  Father  Hewit  to  the  Same. 

Church  of  St.  Paul,  the  Apostle. 
Paulist  Fathers, 

415  West  Fifty-ninth  Street, 

New  York,  Sept.  3,  1894. 

Dear  Father  Walworth  —  A  letter  is  one  of  those  things 
which  for  a  long  time  past  has  been  such  an  unwilling  task 
that  I  have  made  that  a  pretext  for  shirking  it  as  much  as 
possible.     It  would  be  very  ungrateful,   however,   for   me   to 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH     CONVERTS.  195 

omit  acknowledging  your  letter  and  expressing  my  thanks  for 
it.    The  sequel  to  "  The  White  City  "  will  appear  in  November. 

I  am  going  back  to  Washington  next  week  because  I  can 
do  more  good  there  than  here,  and  not  be  any  more  uncom- 
fortable.* We  are  about  to  found  a  new  house  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

I  admire  your  fortitude  and  cheerfulness,  and  rejoice  in  all 
the  good  work  you  are  still  able  to  do.  I  send  my  kindest 
regards  to  your  niece,  and  remain, 

Your  devoted  brother  in  J.  C, 

A.  F.  HE  WIT. 

Night  Message,  Western  Union  Telegraph  Co. 

New  York,  July  4,  1897. 
To  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth, 

St.  Mary's  Church,  Albany. 

I  announce  death  of  Father  Hewit  at  9  o'clock  to-night. 

GEORGE  DESHON. 


*  Thus    slightingly    does    he    refer   to    his   increasing   and    acute 
suffering  from   an  incurable  malady. 


X. 

PASTOR   OF  HIS  FLOCK. 

Thirty-four  Years  at  St.  Mary's,  Albany  —  Notes  of 

Sermons  —  A  Peom  on  the  Mass  —  Tribute 

of  a  Former  Curate. 

Little  ones  of  Father  Walworth's  flock  have 
grown  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  looking  ever 
with  loving  reverence  to  their  good  pastor,  and  why 
not  ?  He  baptised  them,  instructed  them,  absolved 
them ;  broke  to  them  the  bread  of  an^ek  and  of 
God's  Holy  Word;  gathered  them  into  sodalities  as 
"  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens ;"  laughed  with  them 
on  the  wedding  day;  sorrowed  with  them  at  the  bed- 
side of  loved  ones.  The  generation  who  "  thus 
walked  through  his  heart,"  month  after  month  and 
year  after  year  do  not  know  him  nor  often  think  of 
him  as  hitherto  shown  in  these  sketches.  Speak  of 
him  as  the  Tractarian,  the  Redemptorist  or  the 
Paulist  —  "  Oh,  yes ;"  they  might  say,  "  Father  said 
something  about  that ;"  or,  "  Grandma  remembers 
one  of  his  mission  sermons."  But  then  thev  2:0  on 
in  praise  of  St.  Mary's,  the  brick  and  stone  church 
he  built  on  the  site  of  the  first  Catholic  place  of 
worship  in  Albany.  It  was  only  the  second  in  the 
whole  State  of  Xew  York  aside  from  transient  In- 
dian mission  chapels  of  bark,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mohawk  river  and  Onondaga  lake. 

"  I  love  every  stone  in  St.  Mary's,"  wrote  sweet 
Mary  Cassidy,  the  daughter  of  Ambrose,  a  fair  flower 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  3  97 

of  the  parish,  and  truest  of  apostles  there  and  in  her 
home:  intellectual,  beautiful,  loving  and  beloved. 
She  was  just  then  tearing  herself  away  from  dearest 
heart-ties  to  follow  in  the  cloister  at  Kenwood  the 
call  of  a  Spouse  who  had  said :  "  Every  one  that 
had  left  house  or  brethren  or  sisters  or  father  or 
mother  or  wife  or  children  or  lands  for  My  name's 
sake  shall  receive  a  hundred-fold."  Her  great-aunt, 
wdio  was  once  chosen  among  the  beauties  of  Albany 
to  lead  the  dance  with  General  Lafayette,  could  not 
have  been  more  beautiful  than  she  to  look  upon.  In 
Mary's  eyes,  however,  no  heroes  found  favor  but 
those  of  the  spiritual  combat.  When  she  had  fin- 
ished her  novitiate  these  words  of  the  Psalmist  came 
from  her  lips,  as  a  winsome  smile  played  there  and 
she  gave  a  quick  upward  glance  of  her  happy  eyes: 
"One  day  in  Thy  courts  is  better  than  a  thousand." 
Afterward,  when  the  pastor  lay  dying,  he  heard  that 
this  darling  of  his  flock  was  also  suffering  and  near 
to  death.  They  were  able  to  pray  for  each  other 
during  long  hours  of  pain,  and  so,  united  in  spirit, 
they  entered  the  Eternal  Fold.  Who  dare  say  its 
inclosure  is  so  opaque  as  to  hide  from  them  those  of 
us  who  loved  them,  and  especially  when  we  talk  of 
them  near  the  old  church  door. 

"  Father  Walworth  used  to  say  that  we,  each  of  us, 
own  bricks  in  St.  Mary's,"  declared  a  pious  loiterer 
by  its  belfry  tower.  St.  Gabriel,  on  its  peak,  was 
blowing  his  bronze  trumpet  to  windward  as  usual, 
whilst  fleecv  cloudlets  drifted  across  the  sky.  "And 
it  is  the  honest  truth ;  my  father  had  a  large  family, 
but  he  put  in  enough  money  when  it  was  building 
to  buy  us  each  at  least  one  of  them.     It  was  hard 


198     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

times,  too,  after  that  Civil  War.     But  he  said  we 
would  never  be  the  poorer  for  it,  nor  have  we." 

"  Is  it  old  St.  Mary's  you're  looking  for  ?  "  says 
another,  to  a  hesitating  traveler,  as  he  stands  where 
four  churches  cluster.  "  You  are  at  the  very  spot, 
and  in  good  time.  It  is  open  in  the  afternoon  from 
5  o'clock  till  the  Angelus  rings.  Come  right  in. 
You'll  see  the  largest  altar  in  the  United  States, 
with  Saint  Michael  standing  on  the  top  of  the  arch. 
And  there  are  more  angels  than  you  can  count,  be- 
sides.    Thev  are  all  around  the  inside!     You  knew 

t* 

the  old  pastor?  Yes,  he  could  preach,  and  none 
better.  That  light  from  the  stained  windows  is  fine, 
as  vou  sav,  on  the  altar.  But  you  should  see  it  by 
electric  light,  when  they  are  singing  the  Tantum 
Ergo,  and  on  a  bright  morning.  He  planned  it  him- 
self, with  all  that  wood  carving,  gilded  balls  and 
nuts,  roses  for  Rosa  Mvstica,  and  a  circle  in  front 
for  God  Everlasting.  The  large  crucifix  on  the 
dome  of  the  tabernacle  can  be  easily  seen  from  the 
last  pew  back,  and  is  the  center  of  all,  as  it  should  be. 
Perhaps  he  was  thinking  of  pine  trees  in  a  grove 
when  he  set  those  two  clumps  of  columns  to  hold  the 
great  altar  arch.  St.  Michael's  foot,  as  you  see,  is 
on  the  gilded  keystone  block.  That  arch  was  made 
in  four  pieces,  two  in  front  and  two  behind,  to  make 
it  thick  and  massive.  He  wanted  strong  lights  and 
heavy  shadows,  he  said.  When  those  four  pieces 
lay  on  the  floor  ready  to  be  hoisted  in  place  they 
reached  all  the  way  down  the  middle  isle,  from  the 
sanctuary  to  the  front  door.  The  pastor  was  built 
on  a  large  scale  himself,  and  so  was  the  altar." 
"  That's  true,"  chimed  in  a  member  of  the  Altar 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  199 

Society.  "  It  takes  seven  yards  of  linen  to  make  an 
altar  cloth  for  it,  and  not  every  one  can  iron  them 
as  they  should  be.  But  that  seems  little  enough  to 
do  when  we  look  at  the  white  embroidered  edge  of 
that  deep  scallop,  done  by  hand,  along  the  whole 
seven  yards."  "  It  was  a  Child  of  Mary  who  did 
that,"  spoke  up  a  companion.  "  It  was  the  same 
one  who  has  given  away  so  many  little  coats  with 
capes  to  them  for  school  children.  I  have  heard 
that  the  family  at  home  help  her  to  sew  on  them. 
They  have  a  pet  name  for  her.  She  is  called  Peggy, 
the  Boss.  Happy  are  the  people  she  bosses,  for  she 
never  thinks  of  herself !  '  Such  are  snatches  of  the 
conversation  one  hears  around  the  doorway  of  St. 
Mary's  in  coming  and  going. 

On  a  second  Sunday  of  the  month  exclamations 
like  these  were  uttered :  "  Two  hundred  young  men, 
with  ribbons  around  their  necks  to  hold  a  medal  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  all  marching  up  devoutly  to 
communion!  That's  a  sight  that  does  one's  heart 
good !  How  those  young  men  sing !  '  Lead,  kindly 
light,'  in  chorus,  with  the  sort  of  modulation  they 
give  to  it,  is  fine.  They  seem  to  sing  Faber  s  '  Sweet 
Sacrament '  with  their  whole  souls.  But  when,  at 
the  end,  thev  chanted  Father  Walworth's  translation 
of  the  *  Te  Deum/  that  was  the  best  of  all !  It  was 
slow,  majestic  and  yet  full  of  energy.  They  must 
have  been  singing  a  long  time  together." 

"  Yes,  the  good  pastor  and  his  devoted  assistants 
have  been  for  a  number  of  years  working  up  that 
sodality.  Faithful  to  communion  and  faithful  at 
rehearsals!  Plenty  of  esprit  de  corps!'  Father 
Walworth  never  let  go  his  hold  either  on  them  or 


200     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

the  choir  or  the  Children  of  May.  These  last  he 
formed  to  the  custom  of  singing  hymns  daily  at 
Mass  in  March  and  May,  as  well  as  on  their  com- 
munion Sundays.  Every  once  in  a  while  he  had 
some  hymn  reprinted  for  them  on  slips,  or  he  com- 
posed or  translated  one,  consulting  his  organist  for 
suitable  music.  People  come  from  many  parts  of 
the  city  to  hear  the  young  men  of  the  sodality  when 
they  sing  vespers  the  Sunday  following  December  the 
8th,  and  again  for  the  Stabat  Mater  in  Holy  Week. 
It  was  not  his  way  to  give  ice  cream  and  social  enter- 
tainments, but  they  all  knew  right  well  he  loved  the 
singing,  and  he  had  a  method  of  his  own  by  which  to 
keep  them  at  it,  for  the  glory  of  God.  The  Temper- 
ance Guild,  also,  had  their  special  Hymns,  for  Meet- 
ing and  Parting ;  those  who  heard  his  altar  boys  at 
their  best  in  the  Dies  Irce  of  the  Eequiem,  and  their 
plaintive  chants  between  the  Lenten  Way  of  the  Cross, 
or  their  glad  Christmas  and  Easter  carols,  will  feel 
their  hearts  thrill  again  at  the  recollection.  If  an 
altar  boy  failed  to  appear  at  the  weekday  Masses 
when  appointed,  he  found  next  Sunday  before  High 
Mass  that  his  pretty  red  cassock  was  in  the  pastor's 
library,  and  a  personal  interview  in  order  before  he 
could  hope  to  don  it  again.  "  It  is  not  the  whole  duty 
of  an  altar  boy  to  show  himself  before  his  papa  and 
mamma  at  a  High  Mass,"  he  would  say,  and  enough, 
besides,  to  bring  the  boy  out  in  all  kinds  of  weather. 
The  writer  once  said  to  a  former  Saratoga  pastor: 
"  Your  altar  boys  sing  the  same  words  between  the 
Stations  of  the  Cross  that  are  used  at  St.  Mary's  in 
Albany."  "  That's  where  we  learned  them,"  said 
he,  "  I  was  down  there  to  confession  not  long  since 


Pastob  of  His  Flock.  201 

and  staid  over  night  in  the  city.  I  was  surprised 
when  I  went  to  St.  Mary's  to  see  the  crowd  of  people 
at  i  the  Stations '  and  how  attentive  they  were.  I 
watched  the  service  carefully  and  decided  your  uncle 
had  a  capital  way  of  conducting  it.  So  I  imitate 
his  method  as  well  as  I  can  in  a  smaller  parish.  The 
people  are  carried  along  with  the  spirited  responses 
and  singing,  and  those  short  and  beautiful  medita- 
tions of  St.  Liguori.  They  forget  how  many  times 
they  are  bending  their  knees,  and  that  is  saying  a 
good  deal  for  the  old  folks,  of  whom  I  am  one." 

The  military  Mass,  that  was  so  novel  and  impres- 
sive at  St.  Mary's  in  1886,  and  which  will  be  referred 
to  later  on,  is  not  an  uncommon  service  now  on  suit- 
able occasions  in  the  Albany  diocese.  Thus  in  ever- 
widening  circles,  the  influence  of  individual  effort 
goes  on,  and  the  good  works  of  a  good  priest  bear 
fruit  unto  edification.  Father  Walworth  thought  his 
own  people  were  the  best  God  ever  made.  "  Why 
look  at  that  Vincent  de  Paul  man,  he  has  been  doing 
good,  quietly,  like  an  angel,  for  years,"  the  pastor 
would  say,  "  and  when  I  look  at  that  great  Eosary 
Society,  I  wonder  at  the  number  of  good,  holy  people 
even  saints,  right  here  in  Albany." 

Father  Walworth  was  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  from 
1866  to  1900.  This  was  his  second  pastoral  charge, 
St.  Peter's,  Troy,  being  the  first.  His  rectorship 
of  the  Albany  Cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception lasted  only  during  the  absence  in  Europe  of 
its  permanent  rector,  Rev.  Edgar  P.  Wadhams,  his 
dear  friend  and  fellow-convert.  At  St.  Peter's  par- 
ish, in  Troy,  he  had  worked  hard,  though  not  long, 
both  organizing  parochial  activities  and  reforming 


202   Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

a  horde  of  laborers  in  iron,  attracted  to  that 
fast  growing  city  by  its  newly-equipped  foundries. 
He  had  been  kept  busy  there  by  souls  that  were  in 
peril  from  ignorance  of  their  religion,  and  the  machi- 
nations of  secret  societies.  He  had  found  a  great 
lack  of  school  opportunities  in  Troy  which  he  rem- 
edied for  his  own  parishioners  by  selecting  a  young 
Xorinal  school  graduate,  who  was  still  in  the  teens 
but  bright  and  well  trained,  whom  he  set  over  other 
teachers,  to  open  and  manage  a  parish  school.  A 
very  useful  souvenir  of  this  first  pastorate  was  a 
chronometer  watch,  which  he  wore  as  long  as  his 
eyes  were  strong  enough  to  read  its  face.  A  picture 
of  St.  Peter's  Church  is  traced  on  the  inside  of  the 
cover,  and  its  inner  gold  case  bears  the  following 
inscription :  "  Presented  by  the  Congregation  of  St. 
Peter's  Church,  Troy,  X.  Y.,  to  their  beloved  Pastor, 
Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth,  March  31,  1861." 

With  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  came 
manv  changes.  It  was  about  that  time  Father  Wal- 
worth,  with  renewed  strength,  returned  to  the  life  of 
a  missioner  among  the  Paulists.  In  Xew  York  he 
found  regiments  starting  for  the  scenes  of  battle 
whom  he  would  gladly  have  served  as  chaplain. 
Archbishop  Hughes  accorded  him  temporary  duty 
of  this  sort  among  soldiers  in  camp  on  Staten  Island. 
The  Catholic  volunteers  made  use  of  this  chance,  for 
manv  a  last  chance,  to  receive  the  sacraments.  Their 
confessions  were  heard  all  night  long  by  the  light  of 
a  candle  in  a  small  tent.  "  Lights  out !  "  said  a  voice 
shortly  after  "  taps."  Two  observant  eyes  were  bent 
on  a  soldier,  kneeling,  above  whose  head  a  priestly 
hand  was  raised ;  aud  the  voice  of  command  changed 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  203 

to  a  gentler  tone:  "All  right,  sir."  Next  morning 
communion  was  given  during  Mass  from  an  altar 
decked  with  tk  the  stars  and  stripes,"  hastily  im- 
provised in  the  largest  of  the  tents.  Anti-riot  duty 
among  recent  emigrants,  as  already  mentioned,  be- 
sides parochial  and  missionary  work,  tilled  up  parts 
of  the  busy  years  that  followed.  Many  converts, 
also,  were  received.  Among  letters  of  this  period 
came  one  signed  "  W.  C.  Robinson,  formerly  Rector 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  Scranton."  It 
announced  the  resignation  of  his  charge  and  asked 
for  an  appointment  in  order  to  receive  advice  in  the 
matter  of  joining  the  Catholic  Church.  This  gentle- 
man was  afterward  for  years  a  professor  in  the  Yale 
Law  School,  and  resigned  that  post  to  enter  the 
faculty  of  the  Catholic  University  at  Washington. 
Previous  to  this  letter  he  and  Father  Walworth  had 
traveled  together  from  Scranton  to  New  York  city, 
discussing  church  questions  en  route  in  a  railway 
train. 

Archbishop  Hughes  died  during  the  war.  His 
successor,  who  became  the  first  of  American  car- 
dinals, wrote  the  following  lines,  which,  sufficiently 
for  present  purposes,  will  account  for  Father  Wal- 
worth's reappearance  in  Albany  and  subsequent 
duties  among  the  clergy  of  that  diocese.  On  arrival 
he  reported  promptly  at  the  Cathedral,  serving  as 
rector  there  while  Father  Wadhams  visited  Rome 
and  Palestine.  On  the  return  of  his  friend  to 
America  he  received  from  Bishop  Conroy  his  ap- 
pointment to  St.  Mary's. 


204  Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Archbishop  McCloskey  to  Rev.  Clarence  A.  Walworth. 

New  York,  July  31,  1865. 

Rev.  Dear  Father  Walworth  —  I  ought  to  have  made 
earlier  acknowledgment  of  your  kind  favor  of  17th  inst.,  but 
I  am  sure  that  considering  my  multiplicity  of  duties  and  the 
very  hot  weather,  you  will  hold  me  excused. 

Much  as  I  regret  the  loss  not  only  to  your  former  asso- 
ciates, but  also  to  this  city  and  diocese,  which  your  departure 
from  among  us  occasions,  still  I  can  find  no  fault  either  with 
the  step  which  you  have  taken,  or  the  motives  by  which  it 
has  been  prompted.  In  quitting  the  Paulists  your  obedience 
naturally  reverted  to  the  diocese  of  Albany,  which  I  congratu- 
late on  the  accession,  and  where  I  hope  you  may  be  long 
spared  to  labor  in  the  good  cause. 

Wishing  you  health  and  blessing,  I  remain,  Reverend  Sir, 

Very   sincerely, 
Your  friend  and  brother  in  Xt, 

JOHN,  ABP.  OF  NEW  YORK. 

The  recipient  of  this  letter  seems  to  have  reached 
the  Albany  diocese  at  a  most  opportune  time,  as  the 
Bishop  found  him  especially  useful  to  him  in  help- 
ing two  Tractarian  students  of  St.  Stephen's,  Anan- 
dale,  into  the  arms  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the 
ranks  of  the  priesthood.  One  of  them,  Father 
Dwyer,  served  many  years  as  a  Paulist,  and  the 
other,  Father  Spencer,  became  a  Dominican  prior. 

When  Father  Walworth  accepted  the  charge  of  St. 
Mary's,  in  Albany,  the  old  second  church  of  that 
parish  (into  which,  as  a  boy  of  ten,  he  had  once 
drawn  a  playmate  to  hear  the  vesper  music),  was 
crumbling  slowly  to  decay.  The  roof  was  leaking  in 
more  than  one  place.  A  debt  of  $40,000  was  hang- 
ing over  it  which  had  to  be  cleared  away  before  he 
could  even  hope  to  plant  his  foot  on  financial  terra 
firma  with  a  view  to  improvements.     Affairs,  how- 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  205 

ever,  were  in  a  very  different  shape  in  1890,  when 
increasing  blindness  made  continuously  necessary  to 
him  the  services  of  an  amanuensis  and  determined 
hi  in  to  hand  over  the  financial  management  of  the 
parish  to  a  newly  constituted  vice-rector,  to  whose 
care  he  confided  his  carefully  kept  record  and  treas- 
urer's books.  He  had  built  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lar church  —  but  without  the  belfry,  which  has  been 
since  added  —  and  he  had  done  it,  not  in  halcyon 
days,  but  in  the  hard  times  that  followed  a  civil  war. 
The  work  of  teaching  in  the  parish  school  was  carried 
on  by  from  five  to  eight  teachers,  either  religious 
or  lay  people.  He  had  usually  two  assistant  priests. 
The  choir  music  was  of  a  high  order.  Employees 
were  held  to  strict  account.  Revenues  covered  cur- 
rent expenses.  The  whole  amount  of  parish  debt 
remaining  unpaid  was  $12,000.  That  amount  of 
cash  he  afterward  gave  and  bequeathed  to  St.  Mary's 
parish  from  his  own  purse,  over  and  above  certain 
landed  interests  adjoining  church  properties,  which 
he  had  bought  on  his  own  account  in  order  to  secure 
St.  Mary's  Church  against  possible  undesirable 
neighbors.  With  the  above-mentioned  cash,  ground 
was  secured  before  he  died  for  a  new  parish  building 
to  contain  schoolrooms,  with  modern  equipments, 
which  his  able  vice-rector  and  successor  in  the  pas- 
torate has  erected  and  zealouslv  labored  to  clear  of 
debt.  It  is  known  as  Centennial  Hall.  The  archi- 
tectural design  is  pleasing  and  accords  well  with  the 
church,  winning  the  eve  with  its  round  arches. 
Whilst  Father  Walworth  managed  the  finances 
schools  were  carried  on  in  an  ancient  rectorv  which 
is  now  the  convent  of  the  school  sisters  of  ISTotre 


206  Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Dame  in  Pine  street  and  in  another  dwelling-house 
that  stands  next  to  the  front  door  of  the  church. 
These  were  adapted  to  school  purposes,  though  not 
so  built.  His  delay  in  erecting  a  schoolhouse  was 
for  reasons  sufficient  to  his  own  mind  and  not  from 
any  lack  of  interest  in  the  children.  To  him,  with 
memories  of  log-cabin  schools  and  college  woodpiles 
that  were  never  a  stumbling-block  to  the  learning  of 
a  Lincoln  nor  the  culture  of  the  poet-student  Bryant, 
these  solid  brick,  well-heated  buildings  seemed  com- 
modious enough  for  the  primary  and  grammar 
schools  of  his  parish,  at  least  until  the  church  debt 
was  substantially  cleared.  He  spared  no  pains  in 
the  selection  of  teachers,  instructing  them  carefully 
as  to  his  requirements.  Yearly  contracts  for  coal 
brought  a  generous  supply  to  the  church,  the  house 
and  especially  the  school,  for  he  was  ever  tender  of 
the  needs  of  the  little  ones.  For  their  elders  he  took 
care  to  have  a  7  o'clock  Mass,  when  at  all  pos- 
sible, even  by  great  sacrifice.  It  wTas  to  be  counted 
on,  week  days  as  well  as  Sundays.  This  he  called 
the  "  Parish  "  or  "  Communitv "  Mass.  In  cold 
winter  wTeather  he  considered  that  the  basement 
chapel,  where  he  had  reverently  placed  the  altar  of 
Cardinal  McCloskey's  first  cathedral,  afforded  ample 
space  for  week-day  congregations.  "  Those  wTho  can 
should  come  to  the  Mass  dailv,"  he  would  sav,  "  at 
least  throughout  Lent  and  during  the  month  of  May." 
"  No  other  devotion  takes  its  place ;  but  of  course 
home  duties  and  legitimate  business  or  labor  must 
not  be  neglected  by  those  who  have  families  to  look 
after,  or  the  aged  or  sick  in  their  care.  They  must- 
wait  for  the  Sundays  and  holidays.     I  say  not  all, 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  207 

but  all  who  can."  In  Lent  St.  Augustine's  "  Steps 
of  Our  Saviour's  Passion  ''  was  recited  by  priest  and 
people  after  Mass,  and  in  Advent  the  "  Steps  of  Our 

Saviour's  Childhood."  There  were  usually  commu- 
nicants on  the  wTeek  days.  Invariably,  from  pulpit, 
or  platform  on  Sundays,  most  careful  announcements 
were  given  out,  one  week  in  advance,  to  the  different 
sodalities  to  prepare  for  their  monthly  communions. 
Practically  the  whole  permanent  congregation  was 
gathered  into  some  one  or  more  of  these  sodalities. 
At  intervals,  both  Paulist  and  Redemptorist  mis- 
sions were  preached  at  St.  Mary's  by  his  request. 

'  Missions/'  he  said,  '  arouse  the  faith  and  con- 
science ;  but  sodalities  are  invaluable  for  forming 
virtuous  habits.  The  sodalities  are  the  life  of  my 
parish.  The  Word  of  God  must  be  preached  in 
season  and  out  of  season,  the  faith  must  be  instilled, 
especially  into  the  young,  but  above  all,  unfailing 
habits  of  virtue  must  be  formed,  and  for  this  the 
monthly  communion  is  most  important."  To  give 
special  conferences  to  the  Children  of  Mary  was 
ever  a  labor  of  love  with  him,  nor  were  they  weary 
in  listening  to  him.  He  would  come  into  the  base- 
ment chapel  on  the  afternoon  of  their  communion 
day,  in  his  declining  years,  with  one  hand  thrust 
in  the  girdle  of  his  overlapping  cassock  and  a  thick 
cane  grasped  in  the  other  on  which,  at  times,  he 
leaned  heavily.  A  small  black  skull  cap,  of  silk  or 
velvet,  crowned  his  white  locks,  and  he  came  a  few 
steps  down  the  aisle  between  the  seats.  He  was  in 
no  hurry  to  begin,  but  seemed,  if  one  may  use  the 
expression,  to  feel  his  way  to  his  audience.  He 
looked   them   over   deliberately,   whether   or  not  he 


2 OS   Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

could  see  them  distinctly,  and  by  the  time  he  was 
ready  to  open  his  lips  all  eyes  were  upon  him.  It 
was  something  like  the  "  3.1ake  ready;  take  aim; 
fire !  "  of  the  trained  marksman.  One  began  to  feel 
at  once  that  not  a  word  would  fall  wide  of  its  mark, 
and  watching  the  play  of  thought  over  his  expressive 
face,  one  be^an  instinctivelv  to  wonder  what  was  in 
his  mind.  These  talks  to  his  sodalists  were  simple, 
practical,  with  little  of  either  rhetoric  or  history  in 
them,  and  yet,  withal,  so  elevating.  The  hearers 
felt  that  he  was  talking  right  into  their  souls,  giving 
them  something  that  would  apply  to  every  day  and 
all  day  long,  putting  thoughts  into  their  minds  that, 
if  they  could  only  hold  on  to  them,  would  make  lumi- 
nous with  inward  joy  all  the  hum-drum  of  existence. 
Then  all  at  once  a  ripple  of  girlish  laughter  would 
break  over  the  motionless  group  as  he  pointed  some 
suggestion  with  a  witticism  or  an  anecdote,  quieting- 
down  to  a  sedate  smile,  perhaps,  as  it  died  out  among 
the  benches  of  older  members.  The  pastor  seemed 
always  pleased  to  have  these  remain  in  the  sodality, 
as  well-seasoned  timber  for  good  works ;  and,  safe  bal- 
last when  carrying  a  heavy  weight  of  sails  to  bring 
in  a  rich  cargo  to  his  treasury,  when  there  was  a 
church  fair.  He  was  very  much  averse  to  allowing 
young  children,  and  especially  little  girls,  to  go  about 
the  city  soliciting  for  church  purposes.  "  They  are 
the  readiest  to  volunteer,"  he  would  say,  "  but  for 
lack  of  discretion  are  likely  to  do  more  harm  than 
good,  both  to  themselves  and  the  cause  they  are  eager 
to  advocate,  from  mere  love  of  novelty." 

The  sodalists  trained  under  Father  "Walworth  to 
usefulness,  in  their  devotion  to  home  duties,  in  chari- 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  209 

ties,  sewing  societies,  care  of  the  sick  and  destitute, 
instruction  of  children  and  in  love  of  sacred  music, 
are  still  witnessing  in  many  parishes  far  and  near  to 
his  wisdom  and  zeal.  Some  are  dwelling  by  domestic 
firesides,  some  in  religious  communities ;  some  pre- 
side over  official  homes ;  some  are  school  teachers. 
Some,  too,  have  become  martyrs  of  industry  in  their 
brave  efforts  to  support  afflicted  relatives. 

One  day  he  told  the  Children  of  Mary  he  wanted 
them  to  join  a  new  society.  "  Everybody  is  starting 
new7  clubs :  we  have  many ;  let  me  see,  if  I  can  name 
them."  And  he  had  at  his  tongue's  end  a  rigamarole 
of  grouped  initials,  beginning  wTith  the  familiar  Y. 
M.  A.  of  old  Albany.  He  rattled  them  off  with  a  ra- 
pidity that  was  at  first  a  surprise  to  his  hearers,  but 
soon  thev  were  convulsed  with  laughter  as  the  combi- 
nations  of  letters  became  more  and  more  absurd. 
With  the  ingenuity  of  an  old  sea  captain  telling  yarns 
he  led  them  quickly  from  plain  truth  to  nonsense. 
Then  he  began  to  pique  their  curiosity  about  his  new 
society  till  they  were  full  of  interest.  At  last,  he  said 
he  had  found  a  name  for  it,  and  the  initials  were 
M.  Y.  O.  B.  "  It  is  of  the  greatest  importance  just 
at  this  time,  and  I  want  each  and  every  one  of  you 
to  do  your  very  best  to  join  it.  The  M.  Y.  O.  B. 
society  is  sure  to  be  a  success  if  you  do."  Then  he 
explained  that  M.  Y.  O.  B.  stands  for  the  plain  old 
wTords:  "Mind  your  own  business,"  and  the  subject 
of  his  talk  was :  Duty.  Those  who  heard  it  will  often 
recall  what  he  said  on  that  subject  when  they  see  the 
headings  with  club  letters  in  print. 

Recollections  of  happy  wreddings  solemnized  in  his 
parish  church  doubtless  played  through  the  Pastor's 


210     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

thoughts  as  he  wrote  these  lines  of  his  joyous  song  of 
a  village  inn,  taken  from  page  60  of  his  "  Andiato- 
rocte,  and  Other  Poems :  " 

The  landlord  sits  in  his  old  arm-chair 

Therein,  therein; 
And  the  blaze  shines  through  his  yellow  hair 

Therein. 
There  cometh  Lawyer  Bickerstith, 
And  the  village  doctor,  and  the  smith. 

Therein, 
Full  many  a  tale  they  spin. 


The  landlord  has  a  daughter  fail- 
Therein,  therein, 
In  ringlets  falls  her  glossy  hair 

Therein. 

*    -s    * 


* 


I  see  her  at  church  on  bended  knee; 
And  well  I  know,  she  prays  for  me 

Therein, 
Sure,  that  can  be  no  sin. 


Our  parish  Church  has  a  holy  priest 

Therein,  therein; 
When  he  sings  the  Mass  he  faces  the  east, 

Therein. 
On  Sunday  next,  he  will  face  the  west 
When  Annie  and  I  go  up  abreast, 

Therein, 
And  carry  our  wedding  ring. 

So  much  for  his  care  of  the  sheep  and  lambs  who 
pastured  near  him  in  happiness  or  at  least  in  peace  of 
soul.  But  how  about  the  lambkin  that  went  astray ! 
He  once  prepared  a  child  for  her  First  Communion, 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  211 

carefully,  as  usual.  The  Pastor  and  his  assistants 
sat  outside  the  sanctuary  rail  when  examination  time 
came,  after  weeks  of  instruction  given  after  school 
hours  by  them;  and,  one  by  one,  the  children  of  about 
twelve  years  of  age  came  up  to  be  catechised  and 
passed  on  to  a  listmaker,  or  rejected  and  sent  home, 
disappointed.  This  child  managed  to  get  through, 
but  alas!  she  had  a  drunken  mother  who  was  a 
widow.  Two  years  usually  elapsed  between  First 
Communion  and  Confirmation,  during  which  time 
attendance  at  Sunday  school  was  required.  Hun- 
dreds of  girls  were  divided  into  classes  under  lay 
teachers,  in  the  upper  church.  The  boys,  taught 
by  laymen,  filled  the  completely  benched  basement 
chapel  and  library ;  the  younger  ones  only  being  under 
the  instruction  of  ladies,  in  the  smaller  Lodge  street 
school  building.  At  that  time  there  were  no  pews 
as  yet  in  the  north  gallery  of  the  church,  but  low 
steps  upon  which  the  boys  sat  during  vespers,  being 
marched  there  from  two  directions. 

The  great  Christmas  tree  celebrations  were  in  the 
church  basement.  All  the  presents  were  marked  and 
graded  as  rewards  for  attendance  and  lessons.  This 
laborious  marking  for  many  was  done  by  their  lay 
teachers  who  met  in  the  rectory  for  that  purpose. 
The  second  floor  rooms  resembled  at  such  times  a 
book  and  doll  shop. 

The  unfortunate  child  of  the  intemperate  widow 
gradually  dropped  out  of  the  Sunday  school  and  was 
no  longer  seen  at  Mass,  wThen  to  the  Pastor's  dismay, 
he  learned  one  day  from  talking  with  her  neighbors 
that  she  was  in  the  clutches  of  a  foul  hag  of  the  city, 
a  woman  of  commanding  mien  and  some  vestiges  of 


212     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

a  queenly  gipsy  beauty.  He  noted  down  the  address, 
secured  all  necessary  information,  saw  for  himself 
that  the  mother  was  little  if  at  all  short  of  a  hopeless 
imbecile,  and  then  made  his  plans  forthwith.  One 
of  his  parishioners  chanced  to  be  the  Chief  of  Police. 
He  received  an  unexpected  call  from  Father  Wal- 
worth, who  had  secured  a  closed  carriage.  "  I  want 
you  to  take  a  drive  with  me,  Chief,"  he  said;  "I 
have  nothing  officiallv  for  you  to  do.  There  are  not 
enough  witnesses  ready  to  testify  in  public,  for  that. 
But  the  moral  effect  of  your  badge  will  be  useful  to 
me  for  the  next  ten  minutes  or  so." 

"  Certainly,  Father  Walworth,"  said  he,  heartily, 
"  I  am  at  your  service."  And  he  entered  the  carriage 
after  the  priest. 

As  thev  drove  toward  an  unsavorv  neighborhood, 
he  told  the  Chief  of  the  girl,  not  yet  sixteen,  whom 
he  hoped  to  place  under  better  tutelage.  He  found 
he  had  a  whole-souled  second.  The  Chief  approached 
the  woman,  quick-witted  gypsy  that  she  was.  in  the 
most  formidable  way,  having  once  quietly  secured  ad- 
mittance in  the  hallway  for  himself  and  the  priest. 
It  looked  for  a  time  as  if  they  would  get  no  further 
without  an  uproar.  But  their  two  heads  were  better 
than  her  one,  and  Father  Walworth  secured  a  two 
minutes'  conversation  with  her  victim  whilst  with  an 
air  of  injured  dignity  she  argued  with  the  Chief. 
The  wanderer  was  alreadv  disenchanted  and  sobbed 

« 

bitterly  at  sight  of  her  Pastor.  "  Do  you  want  to 
leave  this  place  ?  "  said  he ;  rt  it  was  hinted  to  me  that 
vou  did." 


Pastor  or  His  Flock.  213 

"  Oh,  yes,  Father,  anywhere,  anywhere  but  here," 
she  said  stifling  her  sobs.  "  Bnt  the  baby !  What 
shall  I  do  ?    God  help  me!" 

"Come  with  us,"  said  he  quickly,  "there  is  a 
place  for  you  and  your  baby  in  New  York  city.  You 
may  go  with  it  to  the  Sisters.  I'll  pay  your  way. 
Bring  it  and  get  into  that  carriage." 

Her  face  brightened.  "  The  Sisters,  the  white 
caps!  Oh,  Father,  you're  good  to  me!  But,"  she 
added  with  a  look  of  terror,  "  I'm  afraid." 

"  Of  what  ?  "  said  he. 

"  Of  her,"  said  she,  pointing  to  the  hag.  "  She'll 
never  let  me  go,  she'll  kill  me  first.  She  frightens 
me  so,  if  I  don't  mind  her."     And  again  she  sobbed. 

"  Nonsense,"  said  he,  "  that  is  the  Chief  of  Police. 
She  cannot  keep  you  five  minutes  longer,  if  you  know 
your  own  mind.     Get  the  child  and  come !  ' 

"  No,  she  won't,"  said  the  older  woman,  turning 
toward  her.     "  I  forbid  you  " — 

"  Yes,  she  will,"  'said  the  Chief  with  a  grim  smile, 
gripping  the  door  knob  as  the  slight  figure  darted  by 
him  into  the  hall  and  up  the  stairs.  The  other  three 
were  now  in  the  front  room.  "  Sit  down,  Madam," 
continued  the  official,  "  and  rest  yourself  a  moment, 
till  we  are  ready  to  go."  The  baffled  woman  looked 
from  one  to  the  other  of  the  determined  faces  before 
her  and  decided  to  obey  the  suggestion,  resuming  her 
air  of  injured  dignity  and  only  once  opening  her 
lips  to  mutter:  "  The  girl  is  a  fool,  I  am  the  best 
friend  she  ever  had." 

The  others  said  nothing,  but  promptly  followed 
the  waif  and  her  wee  one  into  the  carriage,  and  drove 
rapidly  oif.  Their  next  stop  was  at  the  Convent  of 
the  Sisters  of  Charity. 


214     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

"  Sister  Mary,"  said  the  Pastor,  "  can  you  keep 
this  young  mother  and  babe  over  night?  As  you 
know,  there  is  as  yet,  in  our  city,  no  home  for 
friendless  infants.  I  will  send  them  on  an  early 
train  to-morrow  to  the  nearest  foundling  asylum  of 
your  order." 

"  Yes,  Eeverend  Father ;  I  see  she  has  no  fear  but 
that  the  Sisters  will  care  for  her."  With  head  bent 
low,  she  had  retired  into  the  darkest  corner  of  the 
hall. 

"  Good-night,  Sister,  I  must  arrange  for  her  jour- 
ney at  once.     I  will  see  you  again  in  the  morning." 

The  next  night  found  this  wilted  blossom  of  poor 
humanity  safely  housed  in  the  tenderest  of  homes 
for  such  as  she,  the  great  ~New  York  Foundling  Asy- 
lum, where  there  were  new  friends  to  be  made, 
where  she  could  receive  regular  employment  as  nurse, 
and  be  trained  to  industrious  self-support. 

The  Pastor  with  a  sigh  of  relief  read  of  her  wel- 
come there,  then  he  turned  his  thoughts  again  to  the 
ninety  and  nine  of  the  flock  for  whose  benefit  a  ser- 
mon must  be  prepared-  What  wonder  that  the  sub- 
ject uppermost  in  his  thoughts  just  then,  over  and 
above  parental  vigilance,  was  Temperance,  his  being 
a  mind  that  went  to  bottom  facts.  "  Be  sober  and 
watch  brethren," — you  above  all,  fathers  and 
mothers,  l  for  your  enemy,  the  devil,  goeth  about  as 
a  roaring  Hon,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour." 

I  do  not  know  whether  it  was  about  this  time  or 
later  that  he  entered  the  church  one  day.  during  Sun- 
day school  time  and,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  called  two 
of  the  older  girls  from  their  seats  who  were  laughing 
and  talking  noisily.     Speaking  in  a  clear  voice,  he 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  215 

told  them  they  had  been  sufficiently  warned;  they 
continued  to  frequent  forbidden  haunts;  their  be- 
havior on  the  public  street  should  not  be  imitated 
by  any  child  there  present;  and  since  they  came  to 
their  classes  not  to  learn  better  behavior  from  good 
companionship,  but  to  dishonor  God  in  His  holy 
place  and  to  spread  among  decent  children  disorder 
and  contagion  of  evil  speech,  they  no  longer  belonged 
to  St.  Mary's  Sunday  school.  "  You  cannot  right 
yourselves  in  a  day/'  said  he  in  substance,  "only 
a  long  and  severe  penance  can  fit  you  for  com- 
panionship with  these  children  sent  to  me  by  their 
parents  to  be  taught  what  is  good,  not  evil.  Go !  ' 
said  he,  "  Go !  '  with  an  emphasis  that  turned  some 
faces  there  as  white  as  the  cheeks  of  the  culprits  were 
red,  whilst  they,  the  two,  passed  down  the  aisle  and 
out  at  the  church  door. 

"  It  was  awful !  "  said  a  teacher  who  described  the 
scene,  "  I  do  not  see  how  any  one  who  heard  him  say 
that  last  word  could  ever  forget  it." 

I  have  not  heard  what  became  of  the  girls.  Other 
Sunday  schools  in  the  city  were  still  open  to  them, 
and  they  may  possibly  have  retrieved  themselves  at 
some  of  these.  If  the  Pastor  acted  as  on  a  later 
occasion  after  he  had  quietly  dropped  several  from 
his  parochial  school  of  a  mutinous  tendency,  who 
were  found  implicated  in  a  theft,  he  saw  and  talked 
long  with  the  parents.  This  gave  him  a  chance  to 
show  them  his  intense  desire  to  reform  their  way- 
ward ones,  which  he  claimed  could  be  much  better 
done  whilst  they  were  apart  from  other  companions. 
In  the  latter  case,  he  gently  and  patiently  proved  to 
the  parents  how  much  simpler  and  easier  it  would 


216     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

have  been  for  him  to  report  the  culprits  to  the  police 
than  to  have  taken  the  course  he  chose  He  soon 
won  them  to  co-operative  measures.  This  last-men- 
tioned affair,  of  a  period  long  gone  by  and  forgotten, 
was  never  even  whispered  beyond  the  knowledge  of 
the  priests,  teachers  and  relatives  of  the  young  people 
concerned,  who  were  never  afterward  known  to  com- 
mit a  like  offense. 

Father  Walworth  taught  the  children  a  song  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  in  rhyme,  to  the  refrain  of 
which,  on  his  visits  to  the  day  school,  he  would  beat 
time  with  his  cane;  and  sometimes  at  its  close,  by 
his  imitation  of  a  bandmaster's  movements,  he  got 
them  into  a  gale  of  laughter,  so  they  were  sure  to 
sing  it  for  him  with  zest.  Between  each  couplet 
came  the  words: 

"  These  are  tie  holy  Commandments  given 
To  man  on  earth,  by  God  in  Heaven." 

The  music  was  that  of  a  measured  and  majestic 
march,  suggesting  the  tread  of  an  army.  When  sung 
as  he  taught  it,  by  hundreds  of  young  voices,  it  not 
only  stirred  the  heart  with  the  joy  of  music,  but  in- 
cited the  soul  to  religious  reverence. 

When  the  Pastor  delegated  authority  to  subordi- 
nates, he  left  them  much  freedom  for  individual 
activities.  "  If  a  man  tries  to  do  everything  him- 
self in  a  large  parish,"  he  would  say,  "  he  gets  much 
done  to  suit  him,  but  much  is  also  left  undone.  It  is 
not  well  to  muzzle  the  ox  that  treads  out  the  corn;' 
and  again,  "  in  organizing  a  Sodality  or  a  good  work 
of  any  kind,  begin  with  a  few,  a  very  choice  few  and 
don't  blow  your  horn.     Little  by  little,  it  will  grow 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  217 

like  the  mustard  seed,  like  the  Church,  like  the  re- 
ligious orders.  In  the  Gospels,  in  the  Lives  of  the 
Saints,  you  will  hud  it  so.  Holy  wisdom  teaches  us 
that  really  great  works  have  humble  beginnings. 
Next  to  St.  Liguori,  he  admired  St.  Vincent  De 
Paul.  From  him  he  learned  another  favorite  maxim: 
'  II  ne  faut  pas  s'enjamber  sur  la  Providence."  He 
was  wont  to  translate  it  ruggedly,  thus:  "  Do  not 
lock  legs  with  Providence,"  and  then  he  would  ex- 
plain. "  While  you  are  planning,  God  is  planning. 
You  may  have  everything  all  cut  and  dried  as  to 
what  you  will  do  and  rush  ahead,  to  be  tripped  up 
by  some  unforeseen  incident.  Leave  margins  beside 
your  text.  Look  to  God,  and  act  in  conjunction, 
when  the  time  comes,  with  events  He  is  ordaining 
of  which  as  yet  you  know  nothing.  Leave  margins 
every  time.  Do  not  loch  legs  with  Providence."  He 
always  used  a  striking  clock,  and  had  a  brief  prayer 
for  its  stroke :  "  Grant,  O  my  God,  that  I  may  love 
Thee,  in  time  and  in  eternity !  " 

The  men  of  the  parish  respected  his  wisdom  and 
for  the  most  part  upheld  him  steadily  and  loyally  in 
his  plans.  Some  few  were  driven  by  his  onslaughts 
upon  liquor  saloons  to  give  up  their  seats  and  go  else- 
where, but  a  greater  number  even  from  distant  parts 
of  the  city  came  to  pledge  themselves  in  his  presence 
to  total  abstinence  for  a  year  or  such  time  as  he 
should  advise.  It  came  to  be  said  of  him :  "  Father 
Walworth's  pledge  is  a  clincher."  He  administered 
it  very  solemnly  and  usually  after  more  than  one 
interview.  It  wras  carefully  fitted  to  the  particular 
case,  as  to  details.  More  than  once  he  had  to  say: 
"  Go  home,  and  come  when  you  are  sober."    Perhaps 


218     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

the  man  had  come  with  his  wife  and  taken  a  bit  to 
screw  np  his  courage.  St.  Mary's  annual  excur- 
sions in  barges  on  the  Hudson  were  great  family  af- 
fairs, the  event  of  the  season.  No  liquor  was  allowed. 
The  people  gave  generous  donations,  bought  tickets 
and  then  paid  for  the  dinner,  delighted  if  a  large 
profit  resulted.  Parish  rules  were  few  but  strict. 
Pews  unpaid  for  after  a  reasonable  time  were  locked 
up  till  relet.  The  trustees  were  laymen,  well  known 
in  business  or  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Patrick  Mc- 
Quade,  prominent  in  educational  affairs,  who  went 
over  his  vouchers  annually,  and  these  covered  all 
parish  expenditures  from  one  dollar  in  amount  up- 
ward. If  he  and  they  were  satisfied,  he  considered 
that  the  people  should  be,  and  did  not  publish  de- 
tails, sending  his  report  promptly  on  to  the  Bishop. 
These  trustees  gave  the  greater  part  of  three  Sun- 
days semi-annually  to  receiving  and  recording  pew 
rents,  seating  themselves  for  that  purpose  at  a  table 
in  or  near  the  Sacristy.  Near  at  hand  was  the  bap- 
tistry. St.  Mary's  baptismal  font  in  white  marble  is 
in  strong  contrast  with  the  oak  and  black  walnut  pul- 
pit and  Communion  rail,  all  designed  in  their 
massive  simplicity  by  the  pencil  of  Father  Walworth, 
as  his  drawings  show.  The  Blessed  Virgin's  altar, 
also  of  white  marble  and  set  in  a  deep  recess  on  the 
other  side  of  the  church,  was  the  gift  of  his  friend 
and  parishioner,  Dr.  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  author  of 
the  Documentary  and  Colonial  Histories  of  New 
York  State.  Mr.  William  Morange,  who  delighted  to 
count  himself  as  organist  in  reserve  for  old  St. 
Mary's,  was  another  great  friend.  He  has  well  been 
called  the  Poet-Laureate  of  Albany.     The  conversa- 


FATHER   WALWORTH. 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  219 

tion  of  these  three  was  of  a  jovial  and  witty  char- 
acter. To  know  these  congenial  spirits  and  to  meet 
them  when  in  con  junction,  for  pure  companionship, 
was  to  love  them  and  to  laugh.  They  sometimes 
took  part  in  old-fashioned  whist  parties  —  of  the 
sedate  kind  —  at  the  Cassidy  home  in  Chapel  street, 
at  the  foot  of  Pine  street,  near  Saint  Mary's  lady 
chapel.  This  pleasant  home  was  a  rendezvous  for 
cultured  Catholics  of  Albany,  Burtsells,  C  aggers, 
Austins,  Tracys,  Worthingtons  and  others,  and  for 
those  of  the  State  when  at  the  Capitol.  It  was  one 
of  the  properties  belonging  to  William  Cassidy,  his 
oldest  sister,  Miss  Frances  Cassidy,  presiding  there 
with  gracious  dignity  through  many  years. 

Relatives  of  Father  Walworth  from  Saratoga  when 
visitino;  Albanv  were  also  made  welcome  at  that 
house.  He  had  not  been  Pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church 
very  long  when  he  was  summoned  suddenly  to  his  old 
home  at  Saratoga.  It  was,  alas,  to  witness  the  de- 
parture from  earth  of  his  honored  and  beloved 
father.  Clarence  held  him  in  his  arms  while  they 
recited  together  the  Lord's  Prayer,  acts  of  faith, 
hope  and  charity  and  the  Chancellor's  favorite  among 
the  Psalms  of  King  David :  Dominus  regit  me,  or 
as  in  English  from  the  Hebrew :  "  The  Lord  is  my 
Shepherd,  I  shall  not  want."  Then  his  breath  failed 
him.  He  wanted  no  prayers  at  the  last  but  those  he 
could  say  with  his  son,  the  priest  of  God.  Slowly  and 
solemnly,  the  dying  man  recited  the  words  of  all 
these  prayers,  taking  them  up  one  by  one  as  they 
came  from  the  lips  of  Father  Walworth.  "  In  the 
shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil  for  Thou  art 
with  me."     In  his  will  he  made  this  son  an  equal 


220     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

sharer  with  his  brother  and  sisters  in  the  family  prop- 
erty. Besides,  he  had  appointed  Clarence,  together 
with  his  son-in-law,  Kev.  Jonathan  Tramball  Backus, 
to  act  as  executor  of  the  estate.  He  made  it  quite 
clear,  however,  in  the  document,  that  he  wished 
Father  Walworth  later  to  will  the  capital  thus  inher- 
ited to  some  one  or  more  of  the  Chancellor's  many 
descendants  whom  he  might  choose  to  favor.  As  was 
anticipated,  Clarence  selected  as  heirs  his  brother's 
children,  who  bore  the  family  name  and  belonged  to 
the  Catholic  Church.  To  this  arrangement,  their 
Protestant  relatives  were  prompt  to  give  a  cheerful 
and  generous  assent.  To  assist  in  the  education  of 
these  children  and  to  foster  their  faith  as  far  as  pas- 
toral duties  permitted  became  to  Father  Walworth  a 
labor  of  love  and  duty  of  honor  to  the  wishes  of  his 
father.  His  correspondence  with  that  father  has  al- 
ready shown  us  how  deeply  he  felt  his  indebtedness  to 
him,  and  how  heartfelt  was  his  gratitude. 

Whilst  Pastor  of  St.  Mary's,  Father  Walworth 
took  up  the  cause  of  the  poor  in  many  a  hard-fought 
civic  contest.  He  was  able  also  by  thrifty  use  and 
care  of  his  inherited  income  to  give  copiously  and 
quietly  to  their  needs.  In  his  priestly  household  at 
St.  Mary's  Rectory  there  was  tender  consideration 
for  industrious  employees  in  times  of  sickness  and 

need. 

What  shall  be  said  of  the  long  line  of  his  assistant 
clergy?  There  were  usually  two  of  these  at  a  time 
residing  with  him.  Their  intercourse  seemed  like 
that  of  a  father  with  his  sons.  Their  friends  found 
a  hospitable  welcome  at  his  board  and  when  these 
young  curates  left  him  to  become  in  their  turn  pas- 
tors,   there   was    weeping    and    there    was    wailing 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  221 

through  the  parish.     Here  are  some  of  their  names: 
Fathers  Taney,   Eteilly,  Kennedy,  Brower,   Maguire, 
Molncroe,  McDonald,  McDermott,  Maney,  Lanalmn, 
Desautels  (called  by  the  people  "Daisy"  for  short) 
and    Craig.      Another   of   the   assistant   priests   was 
Father   Casey,   who  was  called  from  the  parish  to 
aid  in  the  duties,  and  receive  the  dying  blessing,  of 
an  aged  relative  of  the  diocesan  clergy.     Afterward 
came  Father  Judge  from  a  course  at  the  new  Dun- 
woodie  Seminary,  to  share,  in  his  turn,  the  old  parish 
burdens  and  the  people's  love.     His  parents  had  been 
married  by  Father  Walworth  when  he  was  in  charge 
of   St.   Peter's   Church  at   Troy;   and   had  received 
from  him  on  that  occasion  a  crucifix  which  is  still 
treasured  in  the  family.    Father  Judge  was  given,  in 
God's  providence,  to  be  the  comfort  and  the  reverent 
consoler  of  the  evening  of  a  good  pastor's  life.     He 
was  the  youngest  and  last  of  his  curates,  the  Ben- 
jamin of  many  holy  brethren.     He  rendered  filial 
service  to  him  on  his  last  "  Retreat,"  and  from  him 
Father  Walworth  received  his  last  Communion.     It 
was  not  his  curate,  however,  but  Rev.  John  J.  Dillon, 
his  Vice-Rector,  the  zealous  first  assistant  of  many 
long  years,  who  gave  him  the  last  anointing.     The 
heaviest  responsibilities  of  the  parish  for  a  decade 
back  had  been  borne  by  Father  Dillon,  under  whose 
care  the  belfry  was  completed  and  the  whole  church 
renovated  and  adorned.     He  it  was  whom  Rt.  Rev. 
Bishop   Burke   eventually  chose   to   succeed   Father 
Walworth  in  the  pastorate. 

What  has  yet  to  be  written  in  other  chapters  of  this 
venerated  pastor,  whose  charge  extended  over  thirty- 
four  years  will  dwell, —  not  upon  details  of  parish 


222     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

duty,  but  rather  upon  his  recreations,  his  civic  and 
literary  career,  and  the  fortitude  developed  by  his 
loss  of  sight,  which  never  lessened  his  industry.  Be- 
fore turning  aside  to  these  phases  of  his  character 
however,  it  seems  not  amiss  to  describe  here  his  last 
appearance  as  Pastor  at  a  parochial  funeral.  This 
time  a  lamb  of  his  flock  had  been  sacrificed  on  the 
altar  of  his  country,  and  the  body  was  brought  from 
its  island  grave  to  the  door  of  old  St.  Mary's,  where 
the  nation's  flag  was  floating  from  the  belfry,  and 
had  been  ever  since  her  boys  marched  away  to  the 
Spanish  War. 

Slowly,  gently,  under  the  broad  arch,  they  car- 
ried in  the  remains  of  Lieutenant  Wansboro  of  the 
Seventh  Infantry,.  U.  S.  A.  He  had  gradu- 
ated from  the  Brothers'  Academy  and  from  West 
Point.  He  was  killed  at  El  Caney,  Cuba,  in  most 
gallant  action,  as  reported  by  the  British  representa- 
tive, Captain  Lee.  Albanians  will  long  remember 
his  funeral.  'Not  so  much  of  military  splendor  had 
been  seen  on  a  similar  occasion  in  the  city  since  the 
remains  of  General  Grant  were  escorted  to  the 
Capitol  to  lie  in  state  there  in  1885;  so  said  The 
Argus  in  its  lengthy  description  of  the  organiza- 
tions present.  Kev.  J.  J.  Dillon,  Vice-Rector,  was 
celebrant  of  the  Mass.  Father  Walworth  met  the 
remains  at  the  door  and  escorted  them  to  the  bier  in 
front  of  the  altar,  whilst  the  military  presented  arms. 
It  was  a  picturesque  scene.  Attendant  upon  the 
Pastor,  who  had  not  sight  enough  to  walk  unaided, 
was  the  negro  volunteer,  Lemuel  Jackson,  but  re- 
cently discharged,  with  honor,  from  a  man-of-war. 
Short  and  sturdv,  in  a  marine  uniform  and  leggings, 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  22°> 

he  trod  near  the  tall  priest,  alert  to  care  for  him, 
his  left  arm  draped  with  an  ecclesiastical  cloak. 
When  the  priest  reached  his  accustomed  seat  near  the 
altar  Lemuel  wrapped  him  in  the  folds  of  the  cloak 
and  went  to  station  himself  near  a  confessional  by 
the  vestry  door  during  the  Requiem  Mass.  In  the 
course  of  his  remarks  Father  Meegan,  the  preacher, 
said :  "  Surely  I  need  not  speak  to  you  of  Tom 
Wansboro.  He  was  born  and  bred  among  so  many 
of  you.  He  was  raised  here  in  this  parish,  and  the 
old  church  —  mother  of  them  ail  —  honors  him  to- 
day and  is  herself  honored  in  turn  by  the  career  of 
such  a  son.  The  venerable  Pastor,  grey-haired  and 
enfeebled  as  he  is,  is  in  the  sanctuary  to-day  to  honor 
by  his  presence  the  young  man  who  grew  up  under 
his  care.  *  *  *  '  Second  Lieutenant  Wans- 
boro of  the  Seventh  Infantry,  sir/  said  the  soldier 
who  bore  him  from  the  field,  '  and  you  will  never 
see  his  better.'  " 

So  to  the  very  end,  over  and  above  all  else,  Father 
Walworth  was  Pastor  of  his  flock,  and  right  well  they 
knew  the  sound  of  his  voice.  Nearly  to  his  eighti- 
eth year  he  continued  to  preach  in  turn  with  his 
assistants  every  third  Sunday. 

He  was  a  consultor  of  the  diocese  under  three 
bishops,  Bishop  Conroy,  Bishop  McNeirny  and  the 
present  Bishop  of  Albany. 

The  following  words  of  his  own,  with  which  to 
conclude  this  chapter,  are  taken  from  Father  Wal- 
worth's manuscripts  and  scrap-books.  To  these  are 
added  one  letter  which  gives  a  glowing  tribute  to 
the  graces  of  his  pastorate.  Its  words  are 
those    of    a    disciple    of    his    who    attained    rapid 


224:     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

promotion  to  ecclesiastical  honors.  The  notes 
of  a  lecture  given  at  St.  Mary's,  Albany, 
for  sweet  charity's  sake,  will  come  first.  The 
second  selection  is  a  sermon  preached  at  that 
same  church  to  his  own  people  in  1886,  but  also  of 
general  interest  to  all  good  Americans,  its  subject 
being  "  The  Rights  of  Labor."  It  was  more  than 
up-to-date  when  preached  and  its  echo  of  a  mission 
sermon  only  goes  to  prove  how  ably  he  could  throw 
the  light  of  old  truth  on  new  needs.  A  non-Catholic 
fellow^citizen  thanked  him  for  this  sermon.  It  had 
enabled  him,  he  said,  to  complete  in  peace  a  building 
which  a  threatened  strike  would  have  left  unfinished 
like  the  Tower  of  Babel.  This  was  interesting 
though  incidental  news  to  the  preacher,  who  pro- 
ceeded to  follow  out  his  preconceived  plan  and  put 
quite  as  much  moral  gunpowder  into  its  sequel  on 
"  The  Obligations  of  Property."  This  last  was 
more  particularly  aimed  at  the  consciences  of  the 
wealthy.  Other  selections  follow,  among  them  a 
parish  protest  against  the  laying  of  certain  railway 
tracks  and  an  unpublished  poem,  describing  the  daily 
parochial  Mass.  The  poem  was  dictated  April  5, 
1898. 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  225 

From  Father  Walworth's    \ 
Memoranda  | 

NOTES 

FOR 

A  Lecture  on  St.  Vincent  of  Paul. 

I  confess  to  a  great  love  for  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  I  feel  for 
him  an  unbounded  admiration.  He  is  the  model  of  a  good 
priest  —  a  good  Religious  —  a  good  missionary  —  a  good 
Catholic  Christian.  He  was  the  Good  Samaritan  of  his  age, 
and  an  especial  model  for  every  Christian,  who  wishes  to  live 
a  life  of  true  piety  and  wise,  practical  charity.  I  say  wise, 
practical  charity,  for  St.  Vincent  was  not  a  man  of  many 
words,  or  vast  schemes,  but  a  man  of  practical  action.  Now 
I  call  especial  attention  to  this  point,  for  we  Americans  are 
called  an  eminently  practical  nation,  and  if  any  of  our 
Yankee  brethren  should  have  the  good  fortune,  first  to  become 
a  Catholic  and  afterward  to  become  a  saint,  he  would  be  very 
much  such  a  saint,  I  imagine,  as  St.  Vincent  of  Paul.  I 
propose  to  you,  therefore,  to-night,  St.  Vincent  of  Paul  a» 
the  great  patron  saint  and  model  of  practical  Christian  char- 
ity. Let  me  explain.  A  great  deal  of  energy  is  wasted  in 
scheming  and  that  is  the  reason  why,  with  so  many  willing 
minds,  there  is  so  little  real  good  done,  &c. 

(Then  proceed  as  in  the  old  Lecture  in  the  book  until  the 
place  where  the  institution  of  the  society  by  Ozanam  and 
others  is  mentioned.  iVdd  some  description  of  the  Conference, 
here  and  their  labors, —  You  see  how  simple  and  practical 
is  all  this.     Here  is  no  blowing  of  horns,  &c,  but  practical 

work,  &c. — 

Conclusion. 

We  all,  I  trust,  wish  to  serve  God  and  our  neighbor  for 
God's  sake.  Let  us  do  it  as  did  Jesus  Christ,  the  Good  Sa- 
maritan, as  did  St.  Vincent,  as  did  these  noble  young  men 
who  founded  this  society,  as  do  (I  am  proud  to  say  it)  the 
members  of  our  own  conference.  (Urge  young  men  to  join  it.) 
And,  my  brethren,  I  appeal  to  you  all,  let  us  all  do  good  after 


226     Life  Sketches  of  Father  WaewoPvTH. 

these  good  models.  God  does  not  need  schemers,  but  honest, 
faithful  workers.  "  Whatever  thy  hand  is  able  to  do,  do  it 
xoith  all  thy  might."'  Let  us  do  the  good  that  lies  waiting  for 
us  at  our  doors,  and  leave  it  to  Providence  to  make  out  our 
plans.  One  great  duty  lies  at  our  doors  this  very  moment, 
viz.:  to  provide  for  our  own  poor  this  winter.  Ay!  the  cold 
weather  is  now  coming  on.  Soon  the  bleak  winds  of  December 
will  pass  over  our  city.  In  the  cold  tenements  around  us  poor 
children  will  be  huddling  around  the  embers  of  a  smouldering 
lire.  They  will  hold  up  their  frozen  hands  to  their  mothers 
and  complain  bitterly  —  Ah !  yes,  mothers  and  children  both 
will  hold  their  chill  hands  up  to  God  and  complain.  Oh!  let 
us  give  them  no  right  to  complain  to  God  of  us! — The 
brothers  of  St.  Vincent  will  be  going  around  to  search  them 
out  and  to  help.  The  widow,  the  sick  and  the  orphan  will 
bless  them.  Oh!  see  that  you  have  a  right  to  share  in  this 
blessing! — The  bell  of  the  house  door  rings  often  in  the  day. 
It  is  the  poor.  They  come  often  to  me,  but  my  hands  are 
empty.  I  would  the  bell  would  ring  sometimes  for  another 
purpose,  to  say:  "Here,  Father  Walworth,  I  have  come  to 
put  this  money  in  your  hands  for  the  poor  this  winter."  Oh! 
your  own  little  ones  would  sleep  better  in  their  cradles  for  it, 
your  own  fires  would  blaze  more  cheerily  for  it,  for  the 
prayers  of  the  poor  would  bless  the  bread  on  the  table,  the 
fire  on  the  hearth  and  the  little  ones  in  your  cradle!  A  sweet 
voice  would  whisper  in  your  conscience  the  words  of  blessing 
which  Jesus  Christ  will  pronounce  in  loud  tones  at  the  end 
of  the  world:  ';  Come  ye  blessed  of  my  Father." 

RIGHTS  OF  LABOR  DEFINED. 

(From  The  Argus;  Monday  Morning,  Dec.  6,  1886.) 

The  masterly  exposition  of  the  labor  question  by  Rev. 
Father  Walworth  which  we  present  to  our  readers  to-day 
sweeps  away  all  the  subtle  sophistries  and  cunning  misrepre- 
sentations which  professional  labor  agitators  have  thrown 
around  the  subject.  It  is  the  clear  reasoning,  incisive  logic, 
high-minded  views,  deep  religious  convictions  of  an  eminent 
divine,  a  profound  thinker  and  a  holy  man  whose  life  has  been 
spent  in  the  service  of  religion,  whose  sole  aim  has  been  to 
do  good  and  whose  influence  is  widespread.     *     *     *     It  will 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.         227 

tend  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  wage-earners  to  an  understanding 
of  the  real  principles  involved  in  the  Henry  George  crusade 
against  property  and  individual  rights. 

FATHER  WALWORTITS  POWERFUL  SERMON 
At    St.  Mary's   Yesterday. 

"For  the  Scripture  saith:  'Thou  shalt  not  muzzle  the  ox 
that  treadeth  out  the  corn;'  and  '  The  laboring  man  is  worthy 
of  his  hire."'     (1  Tim.  v.  18.) 

Perhaps  there  is  no  subject  that  more  attracts  public  at- 
tention at  this  time  than  the  rights  of  labor.  Perhaps  there 
is  no  subject  which  is  so  little  understood  and  about  which 
such  vague  and  unsatisfactory  theories  are  afloat.  If  these 
theories  involved  errors  in  political  economy  only,  I  would  be 
silent  and  not  introduce  the  subject  into  the  pulpit.  But  it 
is  not  so.  At  the  present  time,  religious  and  moral  doctrine 
is  assailed;  and  the  preacher  who  is  afraid  to  defend  the  faith 
of  the  Church  and  the  morals  of  the  community  is  a  coward 
and  unworthy  to  serve  as  a  guide  and  leader  in  religion. 
These  few  words  are  all  that  I  need  offer  as  an  apology  for 
the  subject  I  have  chosen.  The  Archbishop  of  New  York,  like 
a  true  champion  of  the  faith,  has  already  sounded  the  alarm, 
and  why  should  I  hesitate  to  follow  so  illustrious  a  leader? 

What  are  the  rights  of  labor;  that  is  to  say  what  is  meant 
by  these  words?  It  means  the  right  of  a  man  to  acquire 
property  by  his  labor,  to  vise  it  freely,  and  to  transmit  it  to 
his  children.  A  man  does  not  generally  work  because  he 
loves  to  work.  He  works  because  he  looks  forward  to  the 
fruit  of  his  labor;  he  expects,  for  instance,  to  get  his  wages, 
to  use  his  wages,  to  spend  his  wages  or  to  keep  them  as  long 
as  he  likes  until  he  gets  ready  to  spend  them;  or,  in  fine,  to 
spend  a  part  of  what  he  earns  and  lay  up  the  rest  for  a 
rainy  day.  You  see,  in  fact,  my  dear  brethren,  that  there 
is  no  difference  between  the  rights  of  labor,  well  understood, 
and  the  rights  of  property.  What  does  the  right  of  labor 
amount  to,  if  it  does  not  carry  with  it  the  right  to  own  and 
the  right  to  keep  what  one  earns  by  his  labor? 


228     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Another  thing  is  also  clear,  namely,  that  labor  does  not 
mean  merely  hand  labor,  muscular  labor,  bodily  labor,  but 
also  the  labor  of  the  mind.  When  the  bricklayer  comes  to 
work  for  me,  I  see  in  him  something  more  than  a  mere 
machine  with  arms  and  legs  and  nerves  and  muscles;  I  see  a 
man  with  intelligence,  experience  and  skill.  Without  this  he 
would  be  of  little  use  to  me.  And,  moreover,  possessing  these 
qualities  of  intelligence  and  experience  and  skill,  he  has  the 
right  to  charge  for  them,  and  I  must  expect  to  pay  for  them. 
It  follows,  therefore,  that  all  men  who  work  either  with  hands 
or  with  brains  are  laboring  men  in  every  sense  in  which  labor 
has  its  rights. 

THE   LABORER   BECOMES    EMPLOYER. 

Once  more,  suppose  the  laboring  man,  by  his  honest  indus- 
try, to  have  acquired  more  than  he  needs  to  spend  immediately. 
He  is  now  at  liberty  to  engage  some  other  man  to  help  him, 
to  work  for  him,  and  he  has  the  right  to  use  the  property 
which  he  has  acquired  to  pay  this  other  man.  In  this  way, 
our  laboring  man  becomes  now  an  employer.  Is  this  right? 
Or  must  he  say  that  he  is  bound  to  divide  his  extra  money 
with  his  neighbor  without  expecting  work  for  it?  Of  course 
not ;  it  is  one  of  the  rights  of  the  laboring  man  to  look  forward 
to  a  happy  time  when  he  shall  reap  the  rewards  of  his  in- 
dustry, when  his  labor  will  be  less  hard,  when  he  with  his 
familv,  with  his  wife  and  his  children,  "  shall  sit  under  his 
own  vine  and  fig  tree,  and  there  shall  be  none  to  make  them 
afraid."  What  is  the  employer,  then,  if  not  the  laboring  man 
reaping  at  last  the  fruits  of  his  industry,  the  reward  of 
honest  labor?  It  is  true  that  sometimes  a  man  or  a  woman 
has  never  labored  hard  to  earn  his  bread.  He  lives  on  prop- 
erty which  comes  down  to  him  by  inheritance  from  his  father. 
A  widow  lives  comfortably  upon  means  which  she,  herself,  did 
not  acquire.  It  came  to  her  from  her  husband.  Is  not  this 
right?  Go  home  to  your  own  house,  look  at  your  own  wife; 
look  into  the  faces  of  your  little  children.  And  then  let 
Henry  George  come  in  and  tell  you  that  you  have  no  right  to 
work  in  order  to  give  them  a  home  after  you  are  dead,  or 
other  means  to  live.  How  will  that  sound  in  vour  ears? 
Will  you  tolerate  that  doctrine? 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  229 

And  in  fine,  let  it  be  well  understood  also  that  the  rights  of 
labor  are  not  to  be  limited  by  any  arithmetic.  We  cannot 
say  that  a  man  shall  earn  and  lay  up  for  himself  and  for  his 
family  so  much  and  no  more,  one  dollar  and  not  two,  one 
hundred  and  not  two  hundred,  one  hundred  thousand  and  not 
two  hundred  thousand.  To  limit  the  honest  ambition  of  in- 
dustry at  any  point  is  a  blockade  to  the  business,  the  trade, 
the  commerce  of  a  country,  and  when  these  are  stopped  where 
is  the  chance  to  labor?  The  Socialist,  therefore,  is  the  natural 
mortal  enemy  of  the  laboring  man.  If  he  calls  himself  the 
friend,  it  is  only  because  he  is  a  demagogue  and  a  humbug. 

THE   LABORER  BECOMES   LANDLORD. 

Henry  George  and  his  followers  will  say  that  he  wishes  to 
make  no  change,  except  in  the  possession  of  land  property. 
According  to  him,  land  does  not  belong  to  individual  owners, 
but  to  all  the  people  in  common.  It  should  not,  therefore,  be 
left  to  the  individual  owner  to  use  as  his  own,  or  to  manage  for 
his  own  single  profit.  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
government  and  so  farmed  out  and  so  managed  that  its  profits 
shall  go  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  people. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  dissect  the  new  terms  invented 
to  back  up  this  old  nonsense,  such  as  "  the  social  aggregate," 
"  economic  rent,"  etc.  It  is  unnecessary  because  the  founda- 
tion upon  which  it  all  rests  is  false.  It  is  not  true  that  all 
the  land  in  a  country  is  a  "common  estate."  It  is  not  true 
that  the  people  are  "  tenants  in  common."  It  is  the  old  heresy 
of  socialism  to  say  so.  The  great  argument  against  all  social- 
ism applies  to  every  crook  and  dodge  of  Henry  George's  new 
gospel.  If  you  look  at  Blackstone,  Kent  and  all  the  great 
jurists  and  statesmen,  who  are  the  time-honored  exponents 
of  the  common  sense  of  the  nations,  you  will  find  that  passing 
lightly  over  the  fine-spun  theories  which  seek  to  determine 
the  origin  of  property,  all  maintain  the  right  of  a  true 
individual  ownership,  and  this  they  base  upon  a  practical 
necessity.  To  carry  out  the  contrary  would  be  to  discourage 
all  industry  and  prostrate  business.  A  man  works  in  the 
hope  of  earning  something.  That  something  when  earned 
becomes  his  property.  He  looks  forward  with  hope  not  merely 
to  bread  and  clothing,  but  to  the  possession  of  a  home  in  the 
land,  a  house  which  shall  be  his  own.     To  that  home  by  and 


230     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

by,  he  would  add  a  garden,  to  that  more  land  with  an  orchard 
and  so  on.  Oil  these  hopes  rest  all  industry  and  business. 
It  is  the  basis  of  all  civilized  society.  Henry  George,  if  I 
understand  him.  would  have  us  lease  our  land  from  the  State 
and  pay  rent  for  it  to  the  State.  This  rent  is  to  be  dis- 
tributed by  the  officials  of  the  State  for  the  common  benefit 
of  the  people.  Look  around  and  see  our  officials.  See  how 
they  manage  the  money  already  in  their  hands.  Put  in  their 
hands  this  additional  treasure,  this  further  opportunity  to 
plunder  the  people  who  elect  them  —  is  it  necessary  to  enlarge 
upon   the   consequences  of   a   vast   corruption   fund   like   this? 

HOW  MINDS   GET   MUDDLED. 

It   may   appear   to   some   of  you  that   I   treat  this   subject 
differently  from  other  orators  and  writers.    So  I  do,  and  I  can 
give  you  the  reason  for  it.     These  orators  and  writers  very 
often  mix  together  two  things  which  are  very  different.     The 
rights  of  labor  is  one  thing;  the  claims  of  the  poor  is  another 
thing.     They  do,  indeed,  go  together,  often,  but  they  must  not 
be  confounded  together.     The  rights  of  labor  belong  to  every 
man  who  labors  whether  rich  or  poor;   the  claims  of  poverty 
belong  only  to  the  poor  man,  and  rest  upon  a  different  founda- 
tion.     The    rights    of    labor    are    founded    upon    justice;    we 
claim    them    because    they    are    ours,    and    in    putting    them 
forward   we   only   demand  our   own.     The   claims   of   poverty 
are   founded   upon   pity,   love,   charity.      In   urging   them,   we 
demand  what  belongs  to  another,  but  what,  for  God's  love,  he 
ought  not  to  refuse  us.     Now,  when  the  demagogue  wishes  to 
delude  you,  for  his  own  purposes,  he  begins  by  muddying  the 
water,  by   selecting  some  claim  of   poverty  and  using  it  as 
if  it  were  a  right  and  a  right  of  justice.    He  says,  for  instance, 
to  the   poor  man :    "  Why  should  this  gentleman,  who  works 
behind  his  desk,  go  home  to  a  turkey  with  oyster  sauce  and 
capers,  and  you  go  home  to  corned  beef  and  cabbage  and  not 
too  much   of  that?"     Is  it  because  he  is  a  banker  and  you 
carry  the  hod?     No,  of  course,  that  is  not  the  reason.     The 
reason   is  because   he   is  rich,   can  afford   it  and  you  cannot. 
You  will  have  a  right  to  a  turkey  when  you  can  earn  enough 
to   pay   for   it.     When   he    loses   his   money,   he   will    have   a 
right  to  corned  beef  and  cabbage  and  no  more.     He  has  no 
right  to  your  corned  beef  and  you  have  no  right  to  his  turkey. 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  231 

So  much  for  the  question  of  rights.  But  at  the  same  time, 
there  is  another  question  which  our  rich  banker  will  have  to 
answer  at  least  to  his  God.  He  is  bound  not  only  by  the  ties 
of  nature  but  also  by  his  duty  to  God  to  love  his  neighbor 
and  especially  his  poor  neighbor.  If  he  forgets  to  do  that  and 
to  share  what  he  has  with  the  poor,  God  will  damn  him  for 
it.  He  will  not  be  damned  for  an  invasion  of  the  poor  man's 
rights,  but  because  he  does  not  love  his  neighbor,  and  is  in- 
sensible to  his  wants.  I  cannot  dwell  any  further  upon  this 
particular  point  at  this  time.  Next  Sunday  (please  God) 
I  purpose  to  preach  upon  the  "  Obligations  of  Property:'  My 
subject  to-day  is  the  "Rights  of  Labor,"  and  even  when  I 
confine  myself  to  that  alone,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  say  all 
I  would. 

You  are  all  well  aware,  I  suppose,  that  Henry  George  and 
some  others  put  themselves  forward  at  this  time  as  special 
friends  and  guides  of  the  laboring  man.  They  present  their 
theories  with  some  degree  of  variety,  but  all  belong  to  a 
general  class,  called  Socialists  or  Communists.  A  Socialist  is 
defined  by  Webster  to  be  "  one  who  advocates  a  community  of 
property  among  all  the  citizens  of  a  State."  Mr.  George 
belongs  to  a  sub-class  of  these,  called  Agrarians,  because  they 
are  especially  in  favor  of  a  division  of  the  land  in  like  manner. 
Mr.  George  might  deny,  perhaps,  that  he  is  a  Socialist.  He 
makes  a  distinction  between  land  and  other  property.  It  is 
possible  that  he  has  other  property  which  he  does  not  propose 
to  divide. 

You  are  also  aware  that  the  Archbishop  of  New  York  has 
declared  these  doctrines  to  be  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Church.  The  Church  recognizes  the  right  of  property  and 
ownership  of  land  as  derived  from  nature,  and  commands 
that  it  shall  be  held  intact  and  inviolate  by  all ;  Henry  George 
feels  aggrieved  by  this  opposition  of  the  Church  and  ques- 
tions the  right  of  the  Church  to  interfere  in  matters  of  this 
kind.  Perhaps  some  others,  perhaps  some  even  among  you, 
may  ask:  "Is  not  this  a  question  of  political  economy?  On 
what  authority  does  the  Church  undertake  to  decide  it?  ? 
The  answer,  my  brethren,  is  easy.  It  is  a  question  of  religious 
morals.  The  Church  is  the  great  guardian  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments.    She    is   guardian   of   that   great   Commandment 


2>32     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

THOU   SHALT  NOT  STEAL. 

What  is  stealing  but  taking  away  the  property  of  another 
without  his  consent? 

Where  there  is  no  property,  there  can  be  no  stealing.  If 
the  Church  may  not  say  what  property  is,  how  in  the  name 
of  common  sense  is  she  to  say  what  stealing  is?  The  point 
taken  by  Mr.  Henry  George  is  simply  absurd.  The  Church 
has  a  right  to  condemn  the  doctrine  of  Henry  George  and  to 
forbid  her  children  to  followT  him.  All  the  true  children  of 
the  Church  will  obey  her  voice.  Our  Holy  Father  at  Rome 
has  done  his  duty.  The  Archbishop  of  New  York  has  done 
his  duty.  The  doctrine  which  the  Archbishop  has  put  forth 
is  nothing  new.  It  is  the  ancient,  time-honored  law  of 
Christian  morality.  It  is  the  standard  to  which  wise  lawwers 
and  statesmen  of  every  age  have  adhered.  Let  us  not,  at  this 
late  day,  be  led  astray  to  our  own  destruction  by  a  "  Will- 
of-the-Wisp." 

The  sin  then  which  is  directly  opposed  to  the  rights  of 
labor  is  the  sin  of  theft.  The  industrious  laborer  does  not  ask 
to  live  by  stealing.  He  asks  only  that  which  is  due  to  the 
labor  he  does.  It  is  the  lazy  man  who  is  not  content  to  earn 
what  he  claims,  but  seeks  to  take  awray  the  fruits  of  another 
man's  labor. 

And  now  let  us  inquire,  practically,  wdio  are  the  real  sin- 
ners against  the  rights  of  property,  and  consequently  against 
the  true  rights  of  labor?  I  will  not  lose  my  time  this  morn- 
ing in  declaiming  against  the  common  and  vulgar  felons  that 
we  see  in  our  police  courts  and  through  the  bars  of  a  jail 
window.  Let  the  sneak  thief  and  the  highway  robber  and  the 
midnight  burglar  pass  for  the  present.  Let  us  hold  up  that 
great  Commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  before  the  eyes 
of  some  others  who  hold  their  heads  higher.  Come  hither, 
extortioner.  What  right  have  you  to  take  advantage  of  your 
neighbor's  necessity,  who  must  work  for  the  smaller  wages, 
or  else  starve?  What  right  have  you  to  force  upon  him  a 
half-dollar  when  you  know  his  work  is  worth  a  dollar,  or  one 
dollar  when  vou  know  it  is  worth  two,  or  five  dollars  when 
you  know  it  is  worth  ten.  I  hold  over  your  head  the  law 
of  God,  and  I  say  to  you,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal." 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.         233 

Come  hither,  too,  thou  crafty  cheat.  Your  neighbor,  per- 
haps, is  not  only  poor  but  simple,  and  you  take  advantage  of 
his  simplicity  to  defraud  him  of  what  he  has  laid  up  by  his 
honest  labor.  But  you  say  it  is  all  right;  he  agreed  to  it; 
it  was  a  contract.  But  I  hold  up  before  you,  the  law  of  God, 
which  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal." 

Come  hither,  dishonest  debtor.  You  live,  perhaps,  in  a  fine 
house  and  ride  in  a  carriage?  But  you  can  scarcely  count 
your  creditors  who  pass  daily  by  your  door,  all  hopeless  to 
receive  from  you  the  fruits  of  their  labor.  Perhaps,  they  are 
too  poor  to  sue  you.  They  would  get  nothing  if  they  were 
richer,  for  you  have  made  over  your  property  to  your  wife  or 
your  son  or  your  brother  or  some  one  else,  and  you  are  ready 
to  swear  that  you  own  nothing.  You  are  a  very  respectable 
man,  but  in  the  eye  of  God  you  are  a  thief.  In  His  name  and 
in  the  Church's,  I  hold  over  your  head  the  great  law  of  the 
Decalogue  which  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal." 

Come  hither,  thou  walking  delegate.  You  prowl  about  on 
the  heels  of  the  laboring  man.  A  weary-eyed  wife  is  waiting 
at  home,  surrounded  by  anxious  little  children.  They  wait 
for  the  husband  and  father  to  come  back  from  work  with  his 
wages  in  his  hand.  You  whisper  in  his  ear  that  he  shall  not 
work.  He  trembles,  but  dares  not  disobey.  How  many 
mouths  have  you  robbed  of  food;  how  many  backs  have  you 
stripped  of  clothing  by  that  one  tyrannical  word?  In  the 
name  of  God  and  of  American  liberty,  I  hold  up  before  your 
eyes  the  great  Commandment  and  say,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal." 

Come  hither,  thou  demagogue,  thou  prophet  of  the  mob. 
You  mislead  the  people  with  dishonest  doctrines.  You  teach 
them  to  throw  away  the  tools  of  honest  labor  that  they  may 
grasp  the  property  of  others.  Driven  by  want  and  stimulated 
by  covetousness,  perhaps,  they  set  fire  to  houses,  perhaps,  thej 
shed  the  innocent  blood  of  those  who  defend  the  law.  Think 
you,  your  own  hands  are  clean  of  blood?  Think  you,  there  is 
no  one  who  will  ever  call  you  to  account?  The  spirit  of  God 
tells  us,  by  the  mouth  of  his  prophet,  Daniel,  that  "  They  who 
instruct  many  to  justice,  shall  shine  like  the  stars  for  all 
eternity."  (xii.  3.)  What  then,  in  the  other  world,  will  be 
the  fate  of  those  who  instruct  many  to  injustice?  Look  at  the 
great  Commandment.    Look  now,  while  the  time  is  given  you. 


2'3-i     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Though  you  may  be  unwilling  to  read  it  now,  be  sure  you 
shall  read  it  at  another  day  in  characters  of  fire,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  steal." 

Who  are  these,  that  I  see  coming  banded  together  in  a 
multitude,  marching  under  banners  and  filling  the  air  with 
shouts?  Are  they  so  many  that  God  does  not  see  each  one? 
Is  the  mischief  they  do  so  divided  that  each  one  will  be  held 
accountable  only  for  a  very  little?  Does  falsehood  become 
truth  in  the  mouths  of  the  many?  Listen  to  what  the  Holy 
Book  tells  us  in  the  twenty-third  chapter  of  Exodus:  "Thou 
shalt  not  receive  the  voice  of  a  lie.  Thou  shalt  not  follow 
the  multitude  to  do  evil;  neither  shalt  thou  yield  in  judgment 
to  the  opinion  of  the  majority  to  stray  from  the  truth." 

My  dearest  brethren,  we  have  a  better  voice  than  Henry 
George's  to  listen  to.  It  is  the  Church  who  speaks  to  us  and 
it  is  God  who  speaks  to  us  through  the  Church.  To  whom 
shall  we  listen?  Shall  we  be  guided  by  the  principles  of 
eternal  wisdom?  Shall  we  be  guided  by  the  Holy  Book? 
Shall  we  be  guided  by  the  Holy  Church?  Shall  we  be  guided 
by  the  Vicar  of  Christ?  Shall  we  be  guided  by  the  warning 
voice  of  our  Archbishop?  Shall  we  follow  the  wisdom  of  so 
many  ages  of  the  past?  Shall  we  maintain  the  rights  of 
property  and  of  labor?  Or,  shall  we  follow  the  teachings 
of  these  ambitious  orators  of  the  hour,  and  so  seek  to  pull 
down  in  one  mad  freak  of  fanaticism  the  temple  of  Faith  and 
the  pillars  of  Freedom,  only  to  perish  ourselves  in  the  ruins? 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  235 

(From  the  Albany  Times,  Sept.  5,  1889.) 
ST.  MARY'S  CHURCH  SPEAKS  FOR  HERSELF. 

A  PROTEST 

Against  a  proposed  plan  of  the  Albany  Railway. 

To  all  whom  it  may  concern: 

We,  the  pastor,  clergy  and  committee  of  St.  Mary's,  having 
just  learned  that  a  scheme  is  on  foot  and  just  ripening  into 
execution,  to  hem  in  our  Church  by  railway  tracks  with  all 
the  noisy  nuisances  incident  thereto,  do  hereby  make  this 
earnest  appeal  to  our  congregation.  We  call  upon  you  to 
defend  this  ancient  parish,  established  by  your  forefathers  in 
the  faith  nearly  a  century  ago.  We  call  upon  you,  also,  to 
protect  the  house  of  worship  which  you  have  so  lately  put 
up  with  many  a  prayer  and  many  a  sacrifice.  We  call  upon 
you  to  rally  around  your  clergy  and  the  committee  of  your 
Church.  We  warn  you  that  you  will  only  secure  yourselves 
against  this  invasion  of  your  dearest  rights  by  your  own 
earnest  and  steadfast  action,  without  relying  on  advocates,  the 
wisdom  of  whose  trade  is  to  delude  and  betray. 

C.  A.  Walworth,  Rector.  J.  A.  Lanahan. 

J.  J.  Dillon.  James  Allen. 

P.  H.  McQuade.  James  Jones. 

John  McDermott.  J.  J.  Harrigan. 

(From  the  same  newspaper.) 

"  The  Common  Council  meet  to-night  for  the  first  time  after 
the  summer  recess,  and  among  the  business  that  has  been 
postponed  and  otherwise  accumulated  is  action  upon  the  peti- 
tion of  the  Albany  Railway  Company  for  permission  to  erect 
poles,  etc.,  to  run  their  cars  by  electricity.  A  proposition  to 
take  the  route  off  from  State  street  between  Broadway  and 
Eagle  is  under  consideration  and  meets  much  opposition  as 
will  be  seen  by  the  appeal  from  St.  Mary's  Church,  printed  in 
another  column.  The  subject  is  one  of  much  importance, 
and  should  be  carefully  as  well  as  promptly  considered." 


236     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

(From  the  daily  local  papers.) 

INDORSED  BY  THE  BISHOP. 

The  following  letter  speaks   for    itself. 

Albany,  September  10,  1889. 

Dear  Father  Walworth  —  I  approve  the  steps  which  the 
clergy  and  the  committee  of  St.  Mary's  have  already  taken  in 
defense  of  their  Church  and  worship.  My  whole  heart  is  with 
you  in  this  crisis,  and  I  trust  that  every  Catholic  in  the  city 
will  give  to  us  his  heartiest  and  most  active  sympathy.  The 
interest  of  all  private  rights  and  the  interests  of  all  worship 
are  concerned.  We  cannot,  however,  expect  much  protection 
from  outside,  unless  we  make  it  clear  that  we  are  prepared  to 
defend  ourselves. 

Very  sincerely, 

FRANCIS,  Bishop  of  Albany. 

Father  Walworth  promptly  secured,  by  personal 
visitation,  the  signatures  of  neighboring  property- 
owners  to  a  remonstrance  to  the  Mayor  and  Common 
Council,  and  attended  the  proceedings  in  the  City 
Hall  preliminary  to  the  giving  of  the  franchise.  This 
prevented  the  laying  of  tracks  on  Pine  and  Chapel 
streets.  The  ones  laid  on  Steuben  street  were  shortly 
after  removed.  "  The  blessing  of  God  is  not  on  them 
so  near  St.  Mary's  door,"  said  the  people. 

THE   HOUR   OF   SACRIFICE. 

(A  hitherto  unpublished  poem  on  the  daily  Mass.) 

By  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth. 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice 

That   calls   the   loving   soul   to   prayer; 
Angels  and  men  meet  in  mid-air, 

And  a  low  earth  to  Heaven,  doth  rise. 


Pastor  of  His  Flock.  237 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice. 

Sweet  is  the  bell  that  floods  the  tower. 

And  makes  the  belfry,  a  sweet  bower 
Where  branches  bend  and  blossoms  rise. 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice. 

List  to  the  clock ;  its  measured  tick 

Says  to  the  soul  be  quick,  be  quick, 
Eternity  sends  this  surprise. 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice. 

Hark,  hark!    'Tis  the  sweet  lark  sings; 

Renew  thy  soul,  take  eagle's  wings; 
Borrow  of  both,  my  soul,  and  rise. 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice. 

Christ  calls  you  from  the  altar  stone; 

Ah,  will  you  leave  Him  there  alone. 
To  plead  for  you?     Be  wise,  be  wise! 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice. 
What  joy  to  enter  at  the  door, 
Though  while  our  brows  bend  to  the  floor 

Our  joy  contends  with  woeful  sighs! 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice. 

'Tis  sweet  to  meet  with  Jesus  there, 

Where  gathering  angels  fan  the  air 
And  all  of  Heaven  doth  sympathize. 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice, 
Where  spirits  cluster  wondering, 
Where  cherubs  cling  and  seraphs  sing, 

And  holy  tears,  the  heart  baptize. 

Sweet  is  the  hour  of  sacrifice 

And  sweet  the  secret,  strong  desire 

That  fills  the  soul  with  burning  fire, 
And  holy  Heaven  with  earth  allies. 


338     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Such  gratitude  as  is  shown  in  the  following  letter 
to  Father  Walworth  from  the  late  vicar-general  of 
the  Syracuse  diocese,  wells  forth  from  a  noble  heart 
and  like  the  quality  of  mercy,  "  It  blesseth  him  that 
gives  and  him  that  takes."  It  came  in  answer  to 
a  message  that  the  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  sent  through 
his  amanuensis  from  a  sick  bed. 

To  Miss  Ellen  H.  Walworth,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

ST.    LUCY'S    CHURCH, 
PASTORAL   RESIDENCE. 

432  Gifford  St., 
Syracuse,  December  15,  1892. 

Dear  Miss  Walworth  —  I  hardly  know  how  to  fittingly  ex- 
press the  feelings  of  affectionate  veneration  created  in  my  mind 
by  the  kind  remembrance  of  me,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Lucy,  by 
your  uncle. 

Three  of  the  happiest  and  most  useful  years  of  my  life  were 
spent  with  him.  The  ardent  piety  exemplified  in  his  every  act, 
the  kind  fatherly  direction  of  my  first  years  in  the  priest- 
hood and  the  rich  fund  of  knowledge  which  he  possessed  and 
from  which  I  was  daily  acquiring,  have  been  like  lamps  of 
brightness  to  my  after  years.  In  the  performance  of  duty 
and  in  trials  and  troubles,  the  memory  of  what  he  would 
do  under  like  circumstances  has  been  my  guide. 

Please  express  to  him  the  kindest  feelings  of  affection  of 
his  friend  and  old  assistant  of  over  twenty  years  ago. 

May  God  restore  him  to  his  health  and  leave  him  with  us 
for  many  years. 

Thanking  you  for  your  kindness,  I  remain, 

Yours  sincerely, 

JOHN  J.  KENNEDY. 


XI. 
TRAVELS  AND  INDIAN  TRAILS. 
Vacation    Studies. 

When  Father  Walworth  had  built  St.  Mary's 
Church  and  the  people  of  the  parish  were  enjoying 
the  use  of  it, —  when,  too,  the  affairs  of  his  father's 
estate  were  settled  and  his  duties  as  executor  at  an 
end,  he  applied  to  the  Bishop  of  Albany  for  a  leave 
of  absence.  He  wished  to  visit  Rome  and  spend  a 
year  in  travel  abroad  for  health  and  recreation.  This 
was  cordially  granted,  and  suitable  letters  were 
obtained  to  insure  a  welcome  among  European  Cath- 
olics. I,  who  devote  these  pages  to  Father  Wal- 
worth's memory,  was  the  niece  chosen  to  be  the  fortu- 
nate  companion  of  his  journey,  being  then  but  four- 
teen years  of  age.  Our  intercourse  thus  far  had  been 
chiefly  on  the  croquet  ground,  at  the  dinner  table  or 
on  such  occasions  as  a  drive  with  a  family  party  to 
the  Saratoga  battleground  or,  with  my  sister,  from 
the  gate  of  Kenwood  Convent  to  some  point  of  inter- 
est in  or  near  Albany. 

A  full  account  of  that  first  journey  with  Father 
Walworth  is  given  in  a  book  that  resulted  from 
my  home  letters,  and  which  is  entitled  "An  Old 
World  as  Seen  Through  Young  Eyes;  or,  Travels 
Around  the  World."  *  After  this,  whenever  the 
busy  priest  had  a  brief  summer  vacation  or  the  doctor 
advised  change  of   air   for  him   in  the  treacherous 


Published  by  D.  &  J.  Sadlier.  New  York. 


240     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walwoeth. 

daTs  of  March,  what  more  natural  than  for  us  two  to 
get  together  and  start  off  with  a  valise  and  a  stout 
umbrella  apiece  ?  We  were  quite  sure  of  a  good  time 
together,  through  rain  and  shine,  whatever  of  ups 
and  downs  might  be  ahead  of  us.  On  such  occasions 
the  grey-haired  pastor,  when  the  tickets  were  bought 
and  the  train  or  boat  began  its  motion,  let  these 
words  of  Byron,  conned  in  college  days,  roll  melo- 
diously from  his  tongue : 

Once  more  upon  the  ocean! 

Yet  once  more! 
The  angry  waves  bound  "neath  me 

Like  a  steed  that  knows  its  rider. 

There  is  little  doubt  that,  as  a  boy,  he  had  battled 
fiercely  with  the  temptation  "  to  run  away  to  sea." 
His  step-uncle,  Mr.  Cardell,  wrote  a  story  for  boys 
called  "  Jack  Halyard,  the  Sailor  Boy,"  which  he 
read  with  great  zest.  Father  Walworth's  knowledge 
both  of  navigation  and  of  human  nature  was  alwavs 
sufficient  to  win  him  a  respectful  invitation  from  the 
captain  of  every  ship  on  which  we  ever  traveled  to 
make  ourselves  at  home  in  the  pilot-house.  Usually 
we  were  also  permitted,  when  near  shore,  to  follow 
our  course  daily  by  means  of  the  captain's  charts. 

Sometimes  most  interesting  events  were  taking 
place  that  the  passengers  on  the  quarter  deck,  with 
their  heads  bent  over  novels  and  papers,  never  sus- 
pected. One  spring  we  put  out  to  sea  six  times  be- 
tween the  port  of  Isew  York  and  that  of  St.  Augus- 
tine in  Florida.  Bounding  Cape  Hatteras  we  kept 
in  quiet  water  by  passing  between  the  shoals  and  the 
great  lighthouse.     It  became  very  exciting  as  the 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  241 

soundings  were  called  off  and  we  learned  that  our 
ship's  keel  "just  didn't  scrape  the  bottom. "  The 
captain  who  took  us  by  that  course  was  a  Connecti- 
cut boy,  who  had  slipped  off  through  the  apple  or- 
chard one  day  and  was  not  heard  of  at  home  for  sev- 
eral rears.  But  the  account  he  gave  us  of  his 
hardships  during  these  years  would  deter  the  average 
boy  from  doing  likewise.  He  had  been  a  pilot  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  and  knew  every  inch  of  the  many 
sea-paths  among  the  shoals  between  New  York  and 
Charleston.  He  and  Father  Walworth  discovered 
they  were  cousins,  at  least  genealogical  cousins. 

One  day,  between  Capes  Charles  and  May,  this 
captain   jerked   the   ship's   gong  like   a   crazy   man, 
when,  to  the  eyes  of  his  passengers,  all  looked  fair 
as   a  May  morning,   rattling  off   at  the  same  time 
some  very  emphatic  words.     Ahead  of  us  was  a  large 
ocean  liner,  headed  in  shore.     In  answer  to  our  sig- 
nal this  steamship  hove  to  and  then  swung  around 
to  come  toward  us.     "  What  is  it,  captain  ?  "  whis- 
pered uncle  in  the  pause  that  followed.    "  He's  thirty 
miles  out  of  his  course.     That's  what  it  is!      The 
Lord  only  knows  how  he  got  in  here  at  all.     He  has 
probably  mistaken  that  light  for  one  near  Cape  Hen- 
lopen.      Three   minutes   more   and   he'd  'have   been 
aground."     In  plain  view  to  the  west  was  a  stretch. 
of  land   with   its   solitary   skyward-pointing   finger, 
There  was  nothing  in  sight  to  the  east  of  us  but 
water.      It    was    only    after    seeing    the    "  hen    and 
chicken  shoals  "  on  the  chart  and  learning  how  they 
and  others  stretch  along,  not  only  for  miles  up  and 
down  the  coast,  but  far  out  into  what  appears,  on  a 
calm  day,  to  be  the  open  sea,  that  I  understood  what 


242     Life  Sketches  of  Fatheb  Walworth. 

the  captain  meant  by  being  "  in  here."  To  be  sure, 
a  ship  of  that  size  in  shallow  water  behind  those 
shoals  was  in  a  trap,  where  even  a  squall  might  wreck 
her. 

As  she  came  alongside  us  the  foreign  captain  asked 
what  li°rht  that  was  abreast  of  us.  "  Fen  wick's 
Island  Light "  answered  our  captain  through  his 
trumpet,  and  gave  the  other  quickly  his  bearings. 
Meanwhile  300  passengers  came  swarming  on  the 
liners  deck,  all  alert  with  interest,  if  not  fear.  Both 
vessels  were  now  at  a  standstill.  Our  captain  had 
called  out  the  course,  how  to  get  clear  of  the  shoals 
and  in  toward  Philadelphia.  It  was  by  falling  into 
the  path  we  were  leaving,  shown  by  the  ruffled  water 
in  our  wake,  and  was  further  indicated  as  he  pointed 
out  by  a  schooner,  some  distance  behind  us  and  nearer 
the  shore,  just  turning  to  show  a  bend  in  the  channel. 
Before  his  sentence  was  finished  the  foreigner  sud- 
denly steamed  up  and  made  off  in  the  direction  in- 
dicated without  so  much  as  a  "  Thank  you." 

"  What's  the  matter  with  the  fellow  \  "  said  our 
Yankee  captain,  mad  as  a  hornet,  swinging  his  great 
trumpet  round  and  round  to  work  off  his  feeling  of 
indignation,  "  I've  saved  his  ship  for  him ;  I've  lost 
time  to  set  him  right ;  I've  given  him  all  the  leeway 
he  needed,  and  that's  the  way  he  treats  me !  Man- 
ners!    A  porpoise  could  teach  him  manners." 

"  Perhaps,"  suggested  Father  Walworth,  "  he 
feared  some  trouble  among  the  passengers  if  they 
overheard  enough  of  what  you  were  telling  him  to 
be  able  to  understand  his  blunder." 

"No!  It's  the  salvage,"  rejoined  the  still  irate 
captain.     "  I  was  thinking  of  the  danger  of  those 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  243 

people  when  I  spoke.  But  he  knows  very  well  I 
could,  if  I  chose,  put  in  a  claim  to  salvage.  He 
didn't  want  to  answer  any  questions  for  fear  I'd 
know  too  much  about  him.     That's  plain  enough." 

"lie's  making  up  for  lost  time,"  said  Father 
Walworth. 

"  That  he  is,"  answered  the  captain,  "  and  follow- 
ing the  directions  I  gave  him  to  a  T." 

When  we  neared  our  port  the  New  York  Herald 
was  bought  the  very  first  thing  and  scanned  eagerly 
for  news  of  the  great  liner.  Its  arrival  at  Phila- 
delphia was  registered,  and  heartily  glad  we  all  were 
to  read  it.  "  That's  all  there'll  ever  be  about  it," 
said  the  captain,  good-natured,  and  happy  as  a  lark. 
We,  also,  had  made  good  time  through  the  shoals  and 
distanced  all  rivals. 

After  reaching  Florida,  when  we  went  to  Mass  at 
Palatka,  Father  Walworth  noticed  that  the  negro 
Catholics  were  assigned  to  a  row  of  seats  between 
the  side  aisle  and  the  wall.  In  his  conversation 
afterward  with  the  local  pastor  I  was  surprised, 
listening,  to  learn  how  very  great  was  his  interest 
in  the  spiritual  welfare  of  this  dusky  part  of  the 
congregation.  How  well  he  seemed  to  understand 
their  special  tastes  and  wants.  Total  absence  of  race 
prejudice  and  great  love  of  the  worthy  poor  were 
evidenced  here,  as  ever,  in  his  mental  attitude.  He 
had  long  since,  on  the  missions,  done  his  full  share 
of  work  as  a  preacher  in  the  black  belt,  and  had 
profited  by  the  lessons  then  learned. 

When  we  were  in  Japan  he  was  delighted  to  be 
served  at  Mass  by  little  "  Tap  "  altar  boys  with  top- 
knots.    In  China  he  took  care  to  point  out  to  me 


244:     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

the  fine  manly  development  of  certain  Chinese  bear- 
ers of  burdens,  and  noted  the  intellect,  refinement 
and  haughty  pride  in  the  faces  of  Chinese  bankers. 
Truly,  we  were  nothing  but  western  barbarians  from 
their  point  of  view.  The  zeal  and  intellect  of  an- 
other St.  Francis  Xavier  is  still  needed  to  conquer 
such  paganism  as  theirs. 

But  of  all  races,  aside  from  his  own,  the  Indian, 
the  American  Indian,  held  for  Father  Walworth 
the  highest  interest.  A  few  words  are  due  here 
about  our  hunt  for  old  Walworth  farms  near  New 
London,  and  then  the  reader  will  be  invited  to  tread 
with  us  some  of  the  Indian  trails  of  New  York  state. 
From  the  Hudson  to  Niagara  Falls,  and  from  their 
wampum  beds  by  the  sea  to  the  woods  and  waters  of 
Canada,  we  would  have  to  track  the  Iroquois  of  the 
Five  Nations,  and  con  at  least  a  hundred  years  of 
their  historv,  if  we  would  know  in  detail  how  Father 
Walworth  was  wont  to  take  a  vacation.  He  was 
never  idle.  What  he  called  fun  another  might  take 
for  research. 

Our  ocean  travel  had  ended  with  a  dreamlike  voy- 
age to  Bermuda  and  back.  But  one  summer  I  joined 
my  uncle  for  a  trip  to  Connecticut.  He  said  he 
wanted  to  visit  the  house  where  his  father  was  born 
in  Bozrah,  and  also  the  very  first  Walworth  home 
in  Groton. 

"  I  don't  know  exactly  where  they  are,  but  I  think 
we  can  find  out  something  more  about  them  if  we 
go  there.  Be  sure  and  take  our  note-books,  and  also 
a  sketch-book  and  pencils.  You  will  see  that  I  shall 
make  friends  with  the  oldest  inhabitant.  I  count  on 
you  for  the  packing." 


Travels  and  Indian  Tiiails.  245 

We  started  by  the  Boston  and  Albany  Railroad, 

and  after  enjoying  the  beauties  of  Berkshire  and 
lunching  at  a  cosy  table  that  came  as  suddenly  be- 
tween us  and  was  as  quickly  provided  with  good 
things  as  the  one  seen  by  "  Two  Eyes  "  and  "  Three 
Eves,"  we  chanced  cars  but  once  before  arriving:  at 
the  quaint  old  town  of  Norwich  in  Connecticut. 
Just  where  the  Willimantic  and  the  Yantic  unite 
their  waters  to  form  the  Thames,  so  well  known  to 
collegiate  oarsmen,  the  streets  of  this  hoary  settle- 
ment climb  the  steep  bank  with  many  a  freakish 
turn.  And  up  we  went  in  an  omnibus  to  the  Waure- 
gan  Hotel.  We  spent  some  time  in  the  public  lib- 
rary and  there,  on  the  county  atlas,  traced  the  chief 
roads  through  the  township  of  Bozrah.  Grandfather 
was  born  in  Bozrah.  Uncle  called  on  an  old  lady 
who  remembered  him  very  well  in  his  later  days,  but 
knew  nothing  of  his  birthplace.  He  was  but  four 
years  old  when  his  father,  Benjamin,  removed  to 
Hoosic  Falls  in  New  York  State.  We  had  a  country 
drive  in  Bozrah  among  the  daisies  and  raspberries, 
past  many  an  old  orchard,  and  we  questioned  other 
old  people,  but  without  success.  "  It  is  somewhere 
within  the  circuit  we  have  made,"  said  uncle,  after 
our  drive.  "  1  think  it  is  that  little  brown  house 
on  the  hill,  where  nobody  lives."  A  year  later  he 
proved  conclusively  that  this  surmise  was  correct, 
and  brought  back  with  him  one  of  its  small  attic 
windows,  with  four  panes  of  glass,  as  a  souvenir. 
More  than  one  of  his  nephews  had  shown  skill  in  the 
erection  of  rustic  summer-houses  in  their  home  gar- 
dens. He  intended  it  for  some  such  structure  or  a 
boathouse.     The  farm  from  which  Benjamin  started 


"246     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

forth  to  seek  his  fortunes  before  the  Revolution  be- 
gan, was  more  difficult  to  locate.  We  made  three 
raids  into  Groton  before  uncle  was  satisfied  as  to  all 
the  details.  First,  we  had  but  the  boyish  recollec- 
tion of  a  friend,  Paymaster  Harris  of  the  navy,  to 
guide  us.  He  remembered  "  a  path  across  lots  to 
Phila  Walworth's."  Phila  was  an  old  lady,  bent 
like  a  hoop,  who  had  lost  all  her  beauty.  Then  we 
found  the  "  Middleton  "  house  and  thought  we  had 
it,  for  a  Walworth  certainly  married  a  Middleton. 
But  these  Middletons  had  all  moved  away  to  Xew 
York  city.  However,  we  corresponded  with  them 
and  got  some  data  for  the  Walworth  Genealogy. 
I  made  sketches  of  everything  in  sight  of  that 
Middleton  house  that  looked  like  ancient  ruins.  The 
most  picturesque  of  these,  with  a  crumbling  wall, 
a  well  and  some  bewitching  rose  bushes,  half  wild 
and  half  tame,  proved  to  be  on  the  site  of  old  Deacon 
Smith's  house  and  garden.  He,  it  seems,  had  bor- 
rowed some  money  of  Benjamin's  mother,  the  widow, 
who  took  care  to  state  in  her  will  that  he  had  "  prom- 
ised to  pay  it  in  silver  and  not  in  continental 
money." 

By  this  time,  as  the  children  were  wont  to  say  in 
their  games,  we  were  "  getting  warmer  and  warmer." 
I  left  one  of  my  best  kid  gloves  in  a  Groton  ceme- 
tery, where  there  had  once  been  a  meeting-house, 
presided  over  by  a  Mr.  Wightman,  because  I  was 
so  busy  copying  off  the  names  and  dates  from  Wal- 
worth headstones  that  I  never  thought  of  it  again, 
at  least  until  we  were  miles  away,  near  the  Chester- 
Walworth  farm. 

A  new  difficulty  appeared.  Wal worths  had  lived 
on  so  many  of  the  Groton  farms  that  it  was  quite  a 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  247 

puzzle  to  untangle  the  connections,  and  besides,  the 
first  Walworth,  the  original  William  from  England, 
had  worked  three  different  farms  himself.  There 
were  giants,  it  seemed,  in  those  days.  But  of  the 
home  in  which  he  died  and  where  his  "  three  sons  " 
—  of  course  there  were  three  —  grew  up  to  manhood, 
scarcely  a  vestige  remained  above  the  level  of  the 
meadow.  The  site  of  it  was  marked  by  a  depression 
indicating  its  size;  the  spot  was  called  the  "chimney 
lot,"  because  older  people  of  the  township  remem- 
bered the  ruins  of  a  chimnev  there.  It  was  not  far 
from  Deacon  Smith's  rose  bushes,  but  no  modern 
highway  passes  the  site.  It  lies  off  in  the  fields 
near  a  copious  spring,  whose  waters  are  traced  on  the 
county  map  till  meeting  others  they  flow  through 
deep  ravines  to  Fisher's  Island  Sound,  That  island, 
too,  was  visited,  first  in  the  little  "  Skipjack,"  a 
ferry  from  New  London,  and  afterward  by  way  of 
a  laro'e  steamer  from  the  eastern  end  of  Lone:  Island. 
Even  the  old  records  of  Southold,  an  ancient  settle- 
ment at  the  extreme  eastern  limit  of  our  State  of 
New  York,  had  to  be  investigated,  too,  to  see  if,  per- 
chance, they  might  throw  light  on  the  pioneers  of 
the  neighboring  islands.  But  no.  The  records  of 
Groton  in  Connecticut  were  a  richer  mine  for  our 
purpose.  We  spent  a  long  time  copying  them  in  the 
old  Avery  house,  where  an  Avery  married  a  Wal- 
worth two  centuries  before,  and  where  a  fair  Avery 
maiden  pointed  out  to  us  the  heavy  beams  hewed 
out  in  1656,  corresponding  partly  to  what 
is  now  called  the  washboard  of  a  room. 
These  beams  made  broad,  low  seats  upon  which 
the    Pequot     Indians     were     accustomed     to     squat 


24:8     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Wal worth. 

when  visiting  the  pioneers.  A  part  of  the  second 
story  of  that  Avery  house  projected  over  the  first. 
A  new  railroad  was  built  near  it  soon  after  our  visit. 
A  spark  from  an  engine  set  it  afire,  and  the  pretty 
old  locust  tree  that  overshadowed  it  only  served  to 
add  fuel  to  the  flames.  The  family  have  since  marked 
its  site  by  a  stone  tablet.  The  sweet  old  garden 
that  we  saw  is  now  a  mere  mass  of  weeds.  The 
county  clerk  must  henceforth  be  sought  out  elsewhere 
by  those  who  wish  to  find  the  old  safe  full  of  rescued 
documents. 

But  not  for  all  the  pleasures  of  Palm  Beach,  nor 
those  of  the  northern  racetracks  and  country  clubs, 
would  the  ffenealoo-ist  and  his  niece  have  exchanged 
their  summer  hunt  for  the  homes  of  ancestors,  their 
interviews  with  the  oldest  inhabitants  of  Xew  Lon- 
don county  and  the  consequent  crop  of  budding 
friendships  for  new-found  cousins. 

In  Historic  Warpaths. 

Father  Walworth's  interest  in  the  Indians  began 
even  before  he  was  old  enough  to  read.  He  not  only 
read  and  reread  the  novels  of  James  Fennimore 
Cooper  while  his  eyesight  lasted,  but  when  that 
was  gone  he  had  them  read  aloud  to  him,  though 
he  had  to  hold  up  an  ear-trumpet  to  catch  the  sound. 

When  he  was  but  six  years  old  he  discovered 
that  a  strange  pedestrian,  who  slept  one  night  on 
the  piazza  of  his  Saratoga  home,  had  disappeared, 
leaving  behind  him  a  packet  with  a  good  shirt  and 
some  other  useful  articles.  Running  to  ask  his 
mother  what  to  do  with  them,  she  said  to  keep  them 
awhile,   and   if  not  called  for  he   could  give  them 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  249 

to  whoever  he  thought  had  most  need  for  them.  The 
child  bore  this  in  mind.  One  cool  day  a  scantily 
clad  red  man  came  noiselessly  toward  him,  with  the 
usual  forest  tread,  one  step  directly  ahead  of  the 
last,  making,  from  habit,  as  few  foot-tracks  as  pos- 
sible. Calling  to  the  Indian  to  wait,  with  a  gesture 
as  expressive  as  the  word,  he  ran  indoors  and  reap- 
peared with  the  bundle,  which  he  thrust  toward  him 
with  a  happy  smile. 

"  Umph!  "  quoth  the  Indian,  with  a  quiet,  steady 
glance  at  the  boy,  and  without  more  ado,  took  up 
the  even  tenor  of  his  gait,  bearing  the  gift  with  him. 

"  What  did  the  man  sav  ?  "  asked  his  mother. 

"  He  just  said :  '  Umph !  '  but  I  think  he  will  use 
that  shirt." 

"  I  hope  so,"  said  she,  doubtfully.  "  It  would  do 
him  no  good  to  sell  it  for  drink." 

The  incident  was  forgotten.  Six  months  later,  in 
the  springtime,  the  same  silent  red  man  appeared, 
seeking  the  boy.  In  his  hand  he  held  a  beautiful 
bowT,  of  well-seasoned  wood,  and  a  good  supply  of 
fine  arrows,  just  the  proper  size  for  Clarence  to 
handle  with  success.  No  boy  of  his  age  in  Saratoga 
had  so  choice  an  equipment,  It  was  a  proud  day 
for  him.  He  himself  had  believed  in  the  gratitude 
of  the  Indian,  and  here  was  its  proof  in  the  loud 
and  unmistakable  language  of  a  thoughtful  deed. 
If  ever  any  one  said  in  his  presence :  "  There  is  no 
good  Indian  but  a  dead  Indian,"  he  was  stopped 
short  off  with  a  denial  of  the  fact.  He  always  in- 
sisted that  Cooper's  Indian  heroes  were  not  over- 
drawn, but  truly  represented  their  race.  He  ad- 
mitted that  there  might  be  "  digger  Indians  "  that 
were  not  like  New  York  Indians,  but  so,  too,  there 


250     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walwoeth. 

were  white  men  that  he  would  not  care  to  have  pre- 
sented as  types  of  the  race.  In  consequence  of  his 
predilection  for  the  red  men  he  was  one  of  the  priests 
chosen  to  be  postulators  of  the  cause  of  canonization 
of  Kateri  Tekakwitha,  the  "  Lily  of  the  Mohawks." 
He  also  gave  to  the  author  of  this  work  every  op- 
portunity to  prepare  her  biography,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1890,  after  five  years  of  careful  research.* 
Some  account  of  journeys  with  Father  Walworth 
during  those  five  vears,  gathered  from  notebooks  and 
diaries,  will  show  why  he  changed  his  old  refrain, 
"  Once  more  upon  the  ocean,"  to  a  new  one, 
with  which  he  gleefully  began  many  a  brief  summer 
jaunt.  Hereafter  it  was,  "  Once  more  upon  the 
warpath,  yet  once  more !  " 

"  It's  a  fine  thing  to  have  a  hobby,  Nelly,"  he 
would  say,  "  if  you  don't  go  too  far  with  it  and  make 
yourself  a  bore.     As  for  me,  I  have  several." 

"  Geology  heads  the  list,"  said  I,  remembering 
the  Saratoga  county  quarries  and  the  fossils  we 
brought  from  Schoharie  valley. 

"  Yes,  but  just  now  it  is  Indians.  Our  good 
friend,  Father  Kennedy,  of  St.  Lucy's,  invites  us  to 
visit  wTith  him  the  Onondaga  Reservation,  and  I 
want  you  to  go  with  me  to  the  Mohawk  valley  to 
find  out  all  we  can  about  Caughnawaga.  I  know 
a  young  priest  there,  Father  O'Brien  —  he  sings,  by 
the  way,  like  a  lark.  He  has  lately  been  made  pastor 
of  St.  Cecilia's,  a  little  church  Father  Lowery  has 
built  in  the  old  Mohawk  country.  The  Lily  of  the 
Mohawks  lived  there,  or  thereabouts,  and  I  want,  if 
possible,    to  locate   the   spot.     Father   O'Brien  says 

♦"The  Life  and  Times  of  Kateri  Tekakwitha,"  may  be  obtained  from 
the  author  at  Albany,  N.  Y. 


Travels  axd  Indian  Trails.  251 

they  have  found  Indian  graves  lately  on  the  Sand 
Flats  at  Fonda.  He  has  a  sister  who  has  come  on 
from  Oswego  to  keep  house  for  him.  She  plays  well 
on  the  organ  and  has  her  own  piano.  It  is  lonely 
for  her  yet;  he  says  he  will  be  very  glad  if  I  bring 
you  with  me.  lie  will  drive  us  all  around  the  neigh- 
borhood. I  know  a  gentleman  belonging  to  the 
Cayuga  County  Historical  Society;  he  is  locating 
old  Indian  villages.  He  is  said  to  be  the  best  au- 
thority in  the  State  on  that  subject,  and  he  has  prom- 
ised me  to  join  us  there  some  fine  day.  His  name 
is  General  Clark." 

So  the  ball  was  set  a-rolling,  but  when  the  game 
was  ended  it  was  no  snowman,  but  an  out  and  out 
heroine  of  the  red  race  that  appeared  as  a  result, 
with  data  sufficient  for  an  actual  biography,  instead 
of  the  historical  romance  I  had  first  projected.  It 
was  a  learned  Jesuit,  to  whom  I  was  introduced  at 
Kenwood  Convent,  who  informed  me  of  the  wealth 
of  manuscripts  to  be  found  at  the  College  de  St. 
Marie  at  Montreal.  In  the  study  of  these  Mr.  John 
Gilmary  Shea  also  lent  his  aid.  To  meet  and  talk 
with  these  historians  on  their  own  favorite  topics 
was  a  new  and  inspiring  experience. 

The  following  extracts  from  my  note-book  will 
show  in  detail  how  we  came  and  went,  time  and 
again,  on  the  old  warpaths  of  Xew  York  State : 

Syracuse,  June  25,  1883. 
Last  Saturday  we  drove  over  to  the  Indian  Reservation,  up 
Onondaga  Valley  past  an  old  building  on  a  hill  to  the  left 
where  there  was  onee  a  fort  and,  past  a  great  quarry.  We 
saw  wagon  loads  of  Indians,  and  here  and  there  a  log  cabin, 
before   we  reached  the  village  and  council  house.     There  we 


2-52     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

talked  first  with  some  young  squaws  and  children,  then  with 
an    Indian    storekeeper    and    his    wife,    and    afterward    with 
Pierce,  who  invited  us  into  his  cottage,  and  told  us  he  had 
only  heen  there  nine  years.     LeFort,  it  seems,  a   son  of  the 
old  Abram   LeFort,  was   a  finely  educated   man,  and   former 
President.     The  squaw  at  the  store    (a  Methodist)    had  told 
us    to    see    Pierce   because    he    could   "  talk    white    language "' 
better  than  her  husband.     Pierce's  father  was  a  Seneca,  his 
mother   an   Onondaga.     He  spoke  both   languages.     They   are 
quite  different.     The  pike,  strawberry  and  green  corn  dances 
are  to  thank  God  for  these  gifts.     An  old  castle  is  further 
north,  down  the  valley.     Three  hundred  Onondagas  still  hold 
their    own.      Smallpox    and    diphtheria    have    made    havoc    in 
times  past.     A  very  old  Onondaga  is  Aunt  Dinah.     Her  step- 
daughter,— Aweykga-a, — is   otherwise   known   as   Ida   Webster. 
We  came   home   over   Onondaga  Hill,  and   took  tea  with  my 
convent  schoolmate,  Ada  Fyler    (Mrs.  Ryan).     She  described 
a   green   corn   dance   she   had   seen  on   the   Reservation   years 
ago.      The    Indians    wore    all    their    finery    with    paint    and 
feathers,  and  moved  around  a  pole  adorned  with  gay  colors. 
They   raised    a   great   dust.      Then   the   rain   came   and   drove 
them   into  their   long,   low   wooden   council   house.     Ada  told 
us    too,   of    a   great   chief   who   was   buried   near    St.   Agnes' 
Cemetery  on  Onondaga  Hill,  in  a  knoll.     Our  talk  about  the 
storm   that   put   an   end  to   the   corn   dance  brought  out   two 
very  expressive   Onondaga  words,  i.  e.:     Bairn  wawa,  which 
means    "sound    of    thunder;"    and    Oc-hees-taw,    "the    light- 
ning."    The  Indians  speak  of  thunder  itself  as  Ec-soot-a-haut. 
This   word   means,   literally,   "  the   grandfather   of   the   power 
of  the  Great   Spirit,"     We  found  in  a  book,   Clark's  "Onon- 
daga," pp.  124-5.  a  detailed  account  of  certain  famous  wampum 
belts    held    by    the    Onondagas    and    their    explanation,    these 
being  the  Constitution  as  well  as  the  chief  historic  documents, 
so  to  speak,  of  the  "  League  of  the  Five  Nations  of  Iroquois." 
When    Mr.    Clark    saw    the    belts    they   were    in    a    curious 
ancient    bag,    made    of    the    finest    shreds    of    elm    bark,    like 
softest  flax;   the  capacity  of  the  bag  exceeded  a  bushel,  and 
it  was  said  to  be  as  old  as  the  league  itself.     The  tubes  or 
beads   of   wampum   are  red,   dark   blue,   pale   blue,   black   and 
white.  They  are  of  conch  shell,  five-eighths  of  an  inch  long,  as 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  253 

large  as  a  small  pipe  stem,  and  hollow;  strung  and  woven  with 
sinews  of  deer  and  bark.  This  famous  bag  of  wampum  was, 
he  says,  looked  upon  as  a  sacred  treasure  and  preserved 
with  great  care  by  the  elected  "  Keeper  of  the  Wampum." 

After  visiting  the  "  Jesuit  Spring'  at  Salina 
where  Chamonot  preached  in  1G56  in  St.  Mary's, 
a  bark  chapel,  I  copied  Judge  Geddes'  survey  of 
1797,  showing  the  position  of  parapets,  gates  and 
palisades  of  the  old  works  there  on  the  hank  of 
Onondaga  Lake.  Then  we  were  ready  to  familiar- 
ize ourselves  with  the  story  of  the  Oneida  Stone, 
which  was  removed  from  its  ancient  site  in  the 
Oneida  country  to  the  cemetery  at  Utica.  After 
that  we  sought  once  more  the  Mohawk  country. 
Here  the  notes  were  continued  thus: 

At  the  Snell  House,  Fonda, 

July  20,  1883. 
Drove  this  morning  with  Uncle,  Father  O'Brien  and  Mr. 
Yeardon,  schoolmaster  at  Fonda,  across  the  Kayadutta  creek 
and  along  under  the  brow  of  the  hill  up  the  Mohawk  Valley 
a  short  distance  to  a  road  turning  up  the  hill  toward 
Abram  Reese's  house.  Before  reaching  it  we  turned  into  some 
fields  to  the  right  near  a  wood  belonging  to  Dominie  Froth- 
ingham.  A  very  short  drive  on  the  elevated  plateau  then 
brought  us  to  the  steep  bank  of  the  Kayudutta  creek,  where 
the  sand  has  been  dug  out  for  building  purposes.  In  this 
excavation  were  found  very  recently  several  whole  skeletons 
and  a  variety  of  beads,  also  a  rusty  pair  of  scissors.  Some 
of  the  bones  were  lying  near  a  lower  jaw  bone  with  teeth,  etc., 
which  Uncle  brought  away  and  gave  to  Mr.  Yeardon,  who  has 
the  first  skull  they  found.  Less  than  half  way  down  the 
bank  to  the  creek*  is  a  charming  spring  issuing  from  the 
roots  of  an  old  crooked  tree,  from  which  we  drank.*     There 


*This  was  Tekakwitha's  Spring.  I  made  a  sketch  of  it  as  it 
then  appeared  for  her  biography.  The  spring  was  used  later  for 
business    purposes   and   its   beauty    marred. 


254     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

is  a  large  one  near  by,  partially  filled  in,  and  a  third  around 
the  wooded  point  up  stream.  On  the  high  ground  extending 
from  the  latter  point  to  the  sand  bank,  according  to  Mr. 
Veeder,  whom  we  met  as  we  drove  down  toward  his  farm- 
house, were  the  (earthen)  remains  resembling  streets  of  a 
village  seen  by  his  father.  In  the  wood  near  there  the  marks 
of  an  axe  were  seen  in  the  inside  of  a  tree  which,  said  Mr. 
Veeder,  must  have  been  made  according  to  Mr.  Clark's  calcu- 
lation about  the  time  Jogues  visited  the  Mohawk  towns.  Mr. 
Clark  was  at  Fort  Plain  and  located  the  towns  near  Fort 
Hunter  about  a  year  ago.  When  questioned  further  he  told 
us  Mr.  Clark  had  not  been  to  the  Veeder  Farm  for  ten 
years.  Mr.  Veeder  found  arrow  heads  in  the  field  across 
the  road  from  his  house.  We  called  on  his  sister,  then 
stopped  at  the  yellow  house  of  the  older  Mr.  Veeder.  We 
saw  the  old  beads  and  scissors  that  had  been  dug  up  — 
(Uncle  got  three  of  those  beads,  to  be  fastened  to  his  gutta- 
percha watch  chain  as  a  souvenir).  The  site  of  the  block 
house  was  shown  to  us  where  the  first  liberty  pole  was 
planted.  Then  we  drove  down  by  the  old  Douw  place  and 
that  of  Major  Jellis  Fonda,  and  read  on  a  tombstone  the  date 
1772.  The  site  of  the  old  bridge  and  store  was  pointed  out 
to  us  and  "  coffin  rock  "  in  the  Mohawk  river.  This  last  indi- 
cates where  to  look  for  rapids.  The  name  Caughnawaga  that 
clings  to  the  eastern  end  of  Fonda,  and  was  the  name  of  the 
first  railroad  station  at  that  point  on  the  New  York  Central 
Railroad,  means  "At  the  Rapids."  The  Mohawks  used  it 
there  and  carried  it  with  them  to  their  home  by  the  great 
rapid  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river  near  Montreal. 

After  crossing  the  modern  bridge  we  drove  up  the  Mohawk 
on  the  south  side  and  then  back,  to  dinner. 

It  was  when  shooting  the  great  rapid  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  river  on  our  way  from  Caughnawaga  in 
Canada  to  Montreal  that  we  met  and  conversed  with 
Mr.  Hale  of  Philadelphia,  author  of  the  Iroquois 
"  Book  of  Rites."  Extracts  from  this  work,  indicat- 
ing that  Hiawatha's  Great  Peace,  i.  e.,  the  League  of 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  255 

the  Five  Nations,  was  established  about  1450,  a.  d., 
fill  up  another  page  of  the  note-book  of  our  Indian 
travels.  These  data  are  wedged  in  between  copious 
extracts  from  Dutch  records  of  Albany  and  French 
manuscripts  at  Montreal,  together  with  addresses  of 
Frenchmen  and  Indians  whom  we  visited,  to  obtain 
information;  also,  records  of  interviews  like  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Hotel  Dieu,  Montreal. 
Sceur  la  Daunersiere  has  been  fifty-three  years  in  this  house. 
She  knew  M.  Marcoux.  She  has  a  relic  of  Tekakwitha,  the  Lily 
of  the  Mohawks,  and  a  quaint  little  colored  picture  of  her 
from  which  I  made  a  tracing.  She  remembered  that  a  larger 
relic,  a  vertebra,  in  a  beautiful  relic  case  which  she  worked 
in  1843,  was  placed  in  the  small  niche  covered  with  glass 
that  indents  the  tall  cross  of  Tekakwitha  at  the  Sault 
St.  Louis. 

The  cross  has  since  been  renewed,  being  only  of 
wood ;  and,  at  its  base,  a  substantial  stone  sarco- 
phagus has  been  placed,  marking  Tekakwitha's 
burial  place.  When  the  Indians  moved  their  vil- 
lage westward  nearer  to  La-Chine  they  also  bore 
her  bones  with  them,  thus  testifying  their  affec- 
rion ;  yielding,  however,  one  vertebra,  to  remain 
near  the  original  grave.  Later,  they  permitted  their 
cure  to  present  Father  Walworth  with  a  part  of  a 
bone  from  the  arm,  to  take  back  with  him  to  the  old 
"Mohawk  countrv  where  she  is  also  beloved.  This 
is  deposited  at  Kemvood  Convent,  on  a  fine  carved 
oaken  bracket.  It  was  designed  by  Mr.  Charles 
Lang,  the  same  artist  who  visited  Caughnawaga  in 
his  company,  on  one  occasion,  to  secure  artistic 
memoranda  for  a  portrait  of  Tekakwitha. 


256     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Again,  from  the  note-book: 

June,  1885. 

During  the  fall  of  1884,  I  recopied  Chauchetiere's  manu- 
script,—  keeping  one  copy  myself  and  sending  one  to  Uncle, 
who  forwarded  it  to  Mr.  John  Gilmary  Shea.  This  was  re- 
ceived by  the  latter  during  my  absence  in  Europe,  February 
to  June,  1885.  Within  a  week  after  my  return  I  started  to 
the  Mohawk  Valley  with  Uncle  to  meet  General  Clark,  who 
kindly  waited  to  take  the  trip  with  me. 

Ten  acres  at  Auriesville  now  belong  to  the  Jesuits,  includ- 
ing the  spot  where  Rene  Goupil  was  killed. 

Tuesday,  June  16. 

After  a  noon  dinner  General  -Clark,  Uncle  and  I  drove  from 
Fonda  by  the  south  bank  of  the  Mohawk  to  Auries  creek. 
We  ascended  a  very  steep  hill  and  saw  corn  pits,  also  Indian 
graves  near  modern  ones,  and  by  mounting  the  fence  had  a 
glimpse  of  the  river  valley  and  a  grain  field  in  the  fore- 
ground, covering  a  village  site—  (1659).  We  descended  the 
ridge  by  an  Indian  trail,  passed  through  Auriesville  and 
across  the  ravines  to  Ossernenon's  site. 

We  entered  by  the  north  approach  where  Isaac  Jogues' 
head,  posted  on  the  palisade,  was  exhibited  to  the  crowd  in 
as  bloody  a  manner  as  was  that  of  Sir  Thomas  More  on 
London  Bridge.  All  that  appeared  to  our  eyes  was  an  open 
field,  the  blue  sky  and  a  broad  outlook  over  the  Mohawk 
Valley. 

General  Clark  told  us  he  had  measured  the  distance  to  the 
Schoharie  creek,  and  this  was  the  only  spot  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley  corresponding  exactly  with  Father  Jogues'  own  de- 
scription of  the  scene  of  his  captivity  and  Rene  Goupil's 
death.  The  Jesuits  did  well  to  buy  it,  and  we  hope  soon  to 
see  it  marked  in  some  way  to  easily  distinguish  it. 

This  has  since  been  done  by  the  erection  of  the 
shrine,  the  chapel  and  the  Calvary. 

On  June  17,  1885,  as  the  note-book  shows,  we 
were  at  Canajoharie,  or  "  The  Pot  that  Washes  It- 
self."   We  saw  the  cataract  by  taking  a  pathless  walk 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  257 

over  pine  needles,  "  where  moccasins  would  have  been 
better  than  shoes."  Mohawk  Castle  sites  boo  numer- 
ous to  mention  here,  considering  the  length  and  sound 
of  their  names,  were  duly  visited  by  our  little  party. 
But  enough  has  already  been  here  quoted  from  our 
diaries  and  note-hooks  to  give  some  idea  of  how 
Father  Walworth  spent  his  vacations.  lie  was  al- 
ways consciously  or  unconsciously  gathering  and  im- 
parting information. 

This  being  so,  his  interest  in  the  project  of  a 
Catholic  Summer  School  at  his  own  beautiful  birth- 
place, Plattsburgh  on  Lake  Champlain,  goes  without 
saying.  Together,  and  with  our  cousins  of  that  place, 
we  heard  Father  Searle  lecture  there,  before  the  asso- 
ciation had  a  roof  of  its  own.  And  together,  after  a 
ramble  in  the  dim  dawn  from  Hotel  Champlain,  on 
the  Bluffs,  through  woodland  paths,  we  two  knelt  on 
the  top  floor  of  its  first  administration  building  near 
a  very  new  rocking  chair  and  bureau,  there  to  hear 
the  first  Mass  that  was  ever  said  on  the  Summer 
School  grounds.  We  saw  in  passing  through  the 
halls  to  the  stairway  of  that  building  a  crude  but 
tidy  restaurant,  and  a  baby  carriage  or  two  on  the 
main  floor.  We  mounted  promptly  to  the  impro- 
vised chapel.  Once  there  the  bowed  heads  in  the 
hall  and  room,  together  with  the  deep  recollection 
of  the  celebrant,  were  to  us  readv  indications  that 
the  Star  of  Faith  shone  brightly  there  with  far- 
reaching  rays.  It  gave  a  new  charm  to  beautiful 
nature  at  a  favored  spot.  It  seemed  indeed  a  hal- 
lowed Bethlehem  of  beginnings.  There  by  the  broad 
lake,  among  the  quiet  hills  wTith  hopeful  thoughts 


258     Life  Sketches  of  Fatheb  Walworth. 

and  congenial  friends,  we  may  well  close  this  record 
of  our  travels. 

But  there,  too,  as  well  as  in  the  Mohawk  Valley 
Tekakwitha's  canoe  had  passed,  and  echoes  of  old 
Indian  history  lingered.  The  pros  and  cons  of  her 
canonization,  and  that  of  certain  "  black  gowns ' 
who  taught  the  Huron-Iroquois,  were  discussed  in 
shady  nooks.  And,  therefore,  as  appropriate  let- 
ters have  been  appended  to  other  chapters  one  has 
been  found  that,  seems  to  belong  to  this,  as  it  is  about 
the  Iroquois  Virgin.  It  will  be  well  to  bear  in 
mind  whilst  reading  it,  that  her  canonization,  to- 
gether with  that  of  Father  Isaac  Jogues,  S.  J., 
and  his  companion,  Rene  Goupil,  was  desired  by 
the  bishops  of  the  United  States  when  assembled 
in  their   "  Third   Plenary   Council '     at   Baltimore. 

t/ 

In  token  of  this  they  drafted  and  sent  to  Rome 
from  that  city  a  formal  request  that  the  prelimi- 
nary steps  be  taken.  To  this  request  of  the 
bishops  was  annexed  a  quaint  and  interesting  peti- 
tion in  several  Indian  languages,  signed  by  Catholic 
Indians  residing  on  various  "  reservations."  When 
he  accompanied  his  bishop  to  Baltimore,  as  theo- 
logian, at  the  time  of  the  council,  Father  Wal- 
worth had  it  much  at  heart  that  Tekakwitha's 
name  should  receive  its  due  share  of  atten- 
tion. He  was  active  in  bringing  it  forward.  Be- 
cause, as  he  expressed  it,  the  two  martyrs  of  the 
Mohawk  mission,  Isaac  Jogues  and  Bene  Goupil, 
would  surely  not  be  overlooked,  for  they  belonged, 
as  priest  and  donne  to  the  great  Society  of  Jesus,  so 
influential  to  urge  their  cause  not  only  at  Baltimore 
but   at   Rome.     Besides,    Tekakwitha,   if  canonized, 


Travels  and  Indian  Trails.  259 

would   be   our   first  native   North   American  saint. 
Hence,  the  following: 

From  Rev.  T.  Harel,  Chancellor  of  the  Archdiocese  of  Mon- 
treal, to  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth. 

Eveche,  Montreal,  29th  October,  1884. 

Rev.  Sir  —  His  lordship,  the  R.  C.  Bishop  of  Montreal,  has 
given  me  communication  of  your  letter  of  the  16th  instant, 
concerning  the  practical  steps  to  be  taken  in  the  cause  of 
the  Beatification  of  Catherine  Tegakwita.  I  was  so  busy  all 
these  last  days  that  I  could  not  spare  a  moment  to  give  such 
an   answer. 

1.  There  is  no  necessity  of  a  Postulatum  at  the  present 
time,  as  the  Process  or  Processes  to  be  made  belong  to  the 
Bishop  or  Bishops  of  Albany  or  Montreal,  inasmuch  as  the 
Process  is  made  in  Montreal  only,  or  in  both  Dioceses, — 
But  though  it  is  not  necessary,  that  Postulatum  or  Postulary 
Letter,  (Littora  Postulatoria )  signed,  if  it  could  be,  by  all 
the  Bishops  at  Baltimore  would  help  in  the  future,  after  the 
Processus  coram  ordinarii  sen  informaiionis  is  sent  to  the 
Holy  See,  accompanied  with  as  many  Postulatorial  Letters 
as  possible  signed  by  Bishops,  Priests,  members  of  Com- 
munities and  laymen.  If  you  think  proper  to  have  that 
Postulatorial  signed  by  the  Bishops  at  Baltimore,  it  has  to 
be  written  in  Latin,  addressed  to  the  Holy  Father,  and  expose 
that  the  serv't  of  God  has  died  in  the  diocese  of  Montreal 
cum  magna  fama  sanctitatis,  and  express  the  wish  that  the 
Holy  Father  proceed  to  her  cause  of  Beatification,  on  account 
of  the  virtue  which  she  practiced,  etc.,  etc. 

2.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  the  election  of  a  Postulator 
of  the  cause  with  the  agreement  of  the  two  Bishops,  Montreal 
and  Albany.  The  Postulator  would  collect  all  the  documents 
and  traditions  concerning  the  serv't  of  God,  give  the  ''  arti- 
cles"  of  interrogation,  select  the  witnesses  whom  he  judged 
proper,  and  introduce  the  cause  to  the  Tribunal  of  the 
Bishops,  Ordinarii  locorum. 

3.  The  cause  being  introduced,  the  Bishop  would  form  his 
Tribunal  and  then  the  cause  would  proceed  regularly. 

There  is  a  question  to  be  decided  in  the  case  —  either  the 


260     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Processus  coram  Ordinario  has  to  take  place  in  Montreal 
only,  or  in  Montreal  and  in  Albany.  My  opinion  is  that  the 
servant  of  God  having  died  in  the  Diocese  of  Montreal,  her 
cause  must  take  place  there,  but  that  witnesses  could  be  had 
from  Albany,  and  if  the  witnesses  of  Albany  could  not  come 
to  Montreal,  the  Bishop  of  Albany  would  examine  them  on 
the  same  articles  and  same  "Interrogators,"  servatis  ser- 
vandis,  etc. 

It  would  require  a  volume  to  give  all  the  information  in 
the  matter.  I  am  always  ready  to  help  you,  if  you  find  it 
proper,  as  much  as  possible. 

Yours  truly, 

T.  HAREL,  Pst. 

Chancellor. 

Rev.  Father  Walworth,  St.  Mary's  Church,  Albany,  N.  Y. 


XII. 

WIELDING  THE  TEMPERANCE  SLEDGE- 
HAMMER. 

Clippings  from  Local  and  Other  Newspapers. 

Few  have  thought  more  deeply  about  Temperance 
or  worked  more  earnestly  in  its  cause  than  Father 
Walworth.  Few  have  dealt  heavier  blows  than  he 
to  the  liquor  traffic  from  his  own  pulpit  at  St.  Mary's, 
or  cornered  it  more  successfully  in  Committee  rooms 
of  the  New  York  Legislature.  Thoughtful  men  in 
his  city  and  State  still  speak  of  him  as  a  great  moral 
power  for  order  and  sobriety;  and  this,  not  alone  in 
his  immediate  vicinity,  but  wherever  his  spoken  or 
printed  word  has  rreaehed,  whether  the  utterance 
came  from  him  simply  as  a  man  or,  as  a  citizen  or, 
as  a  priest. 

Yet  Father  Walworth  himself  was  never  a  total 
abstainer.  He  founded  a  Total  Abstinence  Guild  in 
his  parish.  He  wrote  songs  for  it.  He  gave  the 
Total  Abstinence  pledge  to  many.  For  some  men 
he  considered  it  a  necessitv  to  abstain  from  intoxi- 
cants.  Others,  he  thought,  gave  a  most  commendable 
example  by  so  doing.  But  when  enthusiasts  tried  to 
force  the  pledge  on  all,  or  made  unpractical  pleas  for 
prohibition  of  all  trade  in  liquors  by  State  legis- 
lation, he  quietly  reminded  them  that  temperance, 
not  prohibition  or  total  abstinence,  is  one  of  the  four 
cardinal  virtues,  ranking  wTith  justice,  fortitude  and 


262     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

prudence.  To  be  able  to  use  at  will,  without  abuse, 
both  meat  and  drink,  and  all  the  faculties  and  gift? 
granted  by  God  to  man,  is  indeed  a  great  funda- 
mental virtue. 

But    men    who    possess    that    virtue,    who    can 
use  intoxicants  without  abuse  and  care  not  to  take 
the  pledge,  should,  he  thought,  make  their  influence 
felt  toward  sobriety.     He  rallied  them  to  his  aid  by 
strong  persuasive  words  when  some  great  temperance 
measure  was  pending.    He  brought  the  subject  before 
them  with  unremitting  energy.     He  sought  out  the 
roots  and  causes  of  anti-temperance  movements,  and 
brought  forward  the  best  aims   and  credentials  of 
those  active  on  the  other  side.    Then,  to  the  substan- 
tial men  of  the  community,  he  would  say :       '  On 
which  side  will  you  throw  your  influence?     Do  not 
those  of  us  who  are  striving  to  check  the  liquor  trade 
stand  for  law,  order  and  decency?     For  God,  duty 
and  religion?    For  the  good  of  home  and  State  and 
countrv  ?  "     And  so  bv  one  plea  or  another,  he  won 
them  to  sign  a  protest,  or  appear  at  a  mass-meeting 
or  a  legislative  hearing.     So  well  known  did  he  be- 
come in  this  cause,  that  the  active  officers  sometimes 
of  a  Catholic,  sometimes  of  a  Protestant  Temperance 
Society,  would  telegraph  him  from  New  York  city 
that  an  important  measure  on  a  certain  day  would  be 
argued  before   a  committee   at  the   Capitol.      They 
would  urge  him  to  be  there  and  to  speak.     Whenever 
it  was  possible,  he  appeared,  surprising  the  newer 
members  of  the  Legislature  by  hi*  knowledge  not 
only  of  the  question  in  hand,  but  of  the  Excise  Laws 
in  general  and  in  particular.     He  usually  won  their 


Vy7jelding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.   263 

respect  by  his  wise  and  courteous  reasoning,  when  he 
did  not  awe  them  by  some  eloquent  and  unexpected 
appeal  to  their  individual  consciences  as  men  in  re- 
sponsible positions,  accountable  to  God  for  their  legis- 
lative action.  If  the  time  was  not  propitious  for 
aggressive  measures,  at  least  he  was  ever  on  the  alert 
and  gave  frequent  warnings  to  the  public  of  what  the 
liquor  sellers  were  about.  Thus  he  took  up  the 
useful  but  thankless  duty  of  watch-dog  for  temper- 
ance sake  over  the  excise  legislation  of  ]\Tew  York 
State,  and  was  true  to  it  for  long  years  till  he  died. 
It  will  be  enough  for  present  purposes  to  give  some 
extracts  from  his  scrap-books  of  newspaper  clippings. 
They  will  showT  him  not  only  in  this  capacity  of 
sounding  the  alarm  but  again  as  occasions  came  on, 
with  true  American  freedom  of  speech  dealing  blow 
after  blow  of  heavy  argumentative  reasoning ;  or,  be- 
times, busy  enough  with  the  thrust  and  parry  of  rep- 
artee in  fencing  bouts  of  ridicule;  and  most  of  this 
occurring  during  the  brief  legislative  months  at  Al- 
bany. First  of  all,  however,  by  way  of  introduction 
to  the  clippings  that  deal  with  the  general  question 
of  temperence  reform,  it  will  be  well  for  us  to  read 
over  his  Tract  "  No.  10,"  intended  to  better  the  in- 
dividual sinner.  It  was  first  printed  by  the  Catholic 
Publication  Society  in  New  York,  and  sold  at  fifty 
cents  a  hundred  for  wide  distribution  by  lecturers 
and  temperance  societies.  It  will  put  in  a  proper 
frame  of  mind  to  read  further  those  of  us  whose 
thoughts  have  been  for  some  time  diverted  from  this 
subject  of  Temperance. 


264     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

No.   10 

What  is  to  be  Done  in  Such  a  Case? 

PART   FIRST. 

John  Egan's  Picture,   by   Himself. 

You  don't  understand  how  I  can  behave  so!  I  suppose 
you  don't.  I  don't  understand  it  myself.  Look  here,  my 
friends,  it  is  all  very  well  to  cry  "  shame !  "  and  turn  up 
your  noses;  but  here  is  the  question,  "What  is  to  be  done  in 
such  a  case  ?  "    Tell  me  that. 

That's  my  house,  sir.  One  story  and  two  rooms.  A  front 
door  that  shuts  with  a  latch,  and  a  back  door  on  one  hinge, 
that  stays  where  it  is  put  without  a  latch.  That's  my  wife, 
sir.  A  good-looking  woman,  sir,  and  a  handy  one  to  work 
when  she's  well.  You  don't  like  that  black  ring  about  her 
eye!  It  was  a  present  from  her  husband,  sir,  last  Saturday 
night.  She  sold  her  wedding-ring  long  ago,  to  buy  bread. 
She  gets  this  kind  of  japanned  jewelry  from  me,  now  and 
then,  to  remind  her  that  she  is  my  wife. 

There  are  my  children,  sir.  What  do  you  think  of  them? 
Dirty!  Of  course  they  are.  Why  shouldn't  they  be?  It's 
their  native  land,  sir,  and  they  don't  like  to  part  with  it.  I 
see  you  don't  like  the  pattern  of  their  clothes.  What  would 
you  have?  The  biggest  boy  has  no  pantaloons  to  be  sure; 
but  he  has  a  coat  on  big  enough  for  three.  His  brother,  Tim 
there,  took  the  pantaloons.  What's  Tim  crying  for?  It's  a 
way  he  has.  He's  crying  for  something  to  eat,  I  suppose.  I 
should  cry  for  the  same  reason,  except  that  I'm  put  to  it 
worse  for  the  want  of  something  to  drink. 

You  don't  like  to  hear  me  laugh,  eh?  You  think  T  talk 
too  lightly,  do  you,  considering  the  ruin  that  lies  around 
me?  Well,  perhaps,  I  do.  By,  my  God  sir,  what  would  you 
have?  If  I  were  to  follow  my  feelings,  sir,  I  shouldn't  trouble 
any  one  with  my  laughing.  If  I  were  to  listen  to  the  devil 
that  whispers  so  often  in  my  ear,  I  should  soon  be  lying 
cold  and  quiet  at  the  bottom  of  the  river.     Why,  man  alive! 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.     265 

you  don't  know  how  often  I've  stood  looking  from  the  dock 
by  the  river-side  upon  the  quiet  water  that  seemed  to  call 
me  to  come  and  lie  down  in  its  bosom,  and  be  at  rest.  If 
it  weren't  for  the  little  1  remember  of  my  catechism,  and  the 
fear  of  Hell  that  still  clings  to  me,  I  shouldn't  be  sitting  here 
a  terror  to  myself,  and  a  show  to  my  neighbors,  and  a  shame 
to  my  family.     God  help  them !     And  God  help  me! 

I  don't  need  preaching,  sir.  Nobody  need  tell  me  how  bad 
I  am.  I  know  it  all  better  than  any  one  can  tell  me.  I 
ought  to  be  ashamed  of  myself!  Of  course  I  ought.  And 
do  you  think  I  am  not?  My  friend,  let  me  whisper  it  in 
your  ear,  that's  what  is  killing  me!  I  am  so  low  down  in  my 
own  estimation,  that  I  am  ready  to  die  with  the  disgrace. 
It's  only  when  I  have  a  little  whisky  in  me  that  I  feel  like  a 

man  again. 

Now,  my  highly  moral  and  religious  friend,  you  have  a 
picture  of  me  drawn  by  myself.  If  you  can  make  a  better,  do 
it.  If  not,  don't  stand  there,  pouring  misery  into  a  bucket 
that's  already  full,  but  tell  me  something  I  don't  know 
already.     Tell  me  what  is  to  be  done  in  such  a  case? 

PART   SECOND. 

John  Egan's  Remedy,  by  a  Friend. 

I  think  I  understand  your  case,  John.  And  I  think  I 
know  what  ought  to  be  done. 

I.  In  the  first  place,  don't  be  discouraged.  The  devil  will 
whisper  a  great  many  foolish  lies  in  your  ear.  He  will  tell 
you  that  there  is  no  hope  for  you ;  that  it  is  useless  to  try  to 
help  yourself;  that  your  character  is  all  gone,  and  nobody 
will  ever  respect  you  or  trust  you  again.  These  are  all  lies. 
Many  a  man  before  you  that  has  been  as  far  gone  in  intemper- 
ance as  yourself  has  broken  loose  from  his  bad  habits,  and 
taken  his  rightful  place  in  society  again;  perhaps  got  to  the 
top  of  the  heap.  You  can  do  the  same  thing.  Bright  days  are 
before  you,  if  you  will  only  make  the  right  effort. 

II.  In  the  second  place,  begin  with  a  strong  resolution, 
and  make  it  before  God.  Don't  take  any  oaths,  or  make  any 
vows.  Oaths  and  vows  are  very  extraordinary  things,  and 
ought  not  to  be  made  lightly,  or  without  great  caution.     But 


266     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

do  this.  Go  into  some  room  alone  by  yourself,  or  into  the 
church,  and  there  upon  your  knees  promise  God  to  set  about 
reforming  yourself  with  all  your  power,  and  ask  His  grace 
to  guide  and  help  you.  There  also,  on  your  knees,  make  a 
firm  promise  not  to  touch  or  taste  the  least  drop  of  intoxi- 
cating drink,  of  any  kind,  until  you  have  spoken  to  the 
priest,  and  arranged  matters  with  him.  Don't  go  to  the 
priest  while  there  is  the  least  sign  of  liquor  upon  you.  Wait 
until  your  head  is  as  clear  and  cool  as  a  glass  of  fresh  spring 
water.  And  in  the  meanwhile  wash  your  face,  comb  your 
hair,  clean  your  shoes,  and  make  yourself  look  and  feel  as 
much  as  possible  like  a  respectable  man.  There  is  a  great 
deal  in  brushing  up  the  outside,  although  of  course  that's  not 
the  principal  thing. 

III.  Then  go  to  the  priest's  house,  ring  the  bell  and  ask  for 
him.  Don't  make  any  long  speeches,  but  tell  him  the  state 
of  the  case  at  once.  Let  him  know  that,  if  he  approves  of 
it,  you  are  ready  to  take  the  total  abstinence  pledge  for  one 
year,  five  years,  ten  years,  or  for  so  long  a  period  as  he 
may  advise,  and  that  once  taken,  nothing  on  earth  shall  ever 
make  you  break  it.  This  done,  ask  when  it  will  be  convenient 
for  him  to  hear  your  confession,  and  prepare  you  for  Holy 
Communion. 

IV.  It  is  important  now  to  get  your  soul  into  a  state  of 
grace.  Begin  at  once  to  prepare  for  a  good  confession.  This 
means,  of  course,  not  only  to  tell  the  sins  you  have  com- 
mitted, but  to  come  before  God  and  His  priest  with  a  true 
hearty  sorrow  for  your  sins,  and  a  firm  determination  to 
avoid  all  kinds  of  sin,  and  to  commence  at  once  a  holy  life. 
Coming  in  this  way,  the  priest's  absolution  pronounced  over 
your  head  will  be  a  real  pardon  from  God.  After  this  you 
need  not  be  afraid  to  receive  the  Holy  Communion.  This  holy 
food  will  give  you  strength  from  Heaven  to  resist  temptation, 
and  keep  your  soul  in  grace.  I  would  advise  you  to  come 
once  every  month  to  confession  and  communion,  until  you 
become  thoroughly  confirmed  in  your  new  life  and  good  habits. 

V.  In  order  now  to  insure  your  perseverance,  you  need 
above  all,  these  three  things  —  prayer,  industry,  and  great 
watchfulness  against  temptation  and  the  occasions  of  sin. 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.     267 

Pray. —  Pray  at  least  every  morning  and  evening.  I  do 
not  say,  make  long  prayers,  but  pray!  And  after  saying 
your  usual  prayers,  add  this:  "My  God!  I  offer  my  pledge 
to  Thee!  I  firmly  resolve  once  more  to  keep  it  to  the  end. 
In  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Amen." 

Be  Industrious.  Idleness  is  the  parent  of  many  vices,  and 
especially  it  is  the  father  of  drunkenness.  Besides,  remember 
that  you  owe  it  to  your  family  and  your  friends  to  make  up 
for  the  lost  time. 

Avoid  the  grog-shop  and  other  occasions  of  sin.  Be  care- 
ful of  your  companions.  If  your  company  won't  suit  them 
unless  you  drink  with  them  —  why  then,  the  sooner  you  sepa- 
rate the  better.  Don't  make  any  false  excuses  for  not  drink- 
ing. Tell  them  plainly  and  openly  that  you  have  taken  the 
pledge,  and  would  rather  die  than  break  it. 

Keep  away  from  the  places  where  liquor  is  sold.  There's 
danger  there.  People  get  together  in  these  places  to  chat 
and  talk,  and  that  makes  attraction  for  a  man  in  the  evening 
when  his  work  is  over.  I  know  it  does,  but  that  is  an  at- 
traction which  you  must  resist.  How  much  better  to  spend 
your  evenings  at  home!  How  happy  you  would  make  your 
wife  by  doing  this,  and  what  a  benefit  it  would  be  to  your 
children!  Ah!  there  is  no  place  like  home  for  true  happiness, 
when  love  lights  the  fire  and  spreads  the  board.  The  first 
society  that  God  made  was  the  Family,  and  He  gave  it  His 
blessing. 

There,  John.  I  have  answered  your  question.  I  have  given 
you  my  very  best  advice.     What  will  you  do  with  it? 


268     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 


CONVERSION  OF  JOHN  TOBY. 

How  a  Woman's  Kindness  Saved  Him.     Rev.  C.  A.Walworth's 

Temperance  Story. 

(From  the  Daily  Press  and  Knickerbocker,  Albany,  March  5,  187    .) 

'•  The  History  of  John  Toby's  Conversion,  with  His  Views 
on  Temperance,  the  Liquor  Trade  and  the  Excise  Law,"  a 
lecture  delivered  by  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth  last  Sunday  eve- 
ning, has  been  issued  in  pamphlet  form  by  the  Albany  News 
Company,  and  is  in  general  demand.  The  story  is  founded 
upon  fact,  is  graphically  told,  is  full  of  humor  and  capital 
hits  on  the  topic  it  deals  with,  and  will  be  a  serviceable 
temperance  tale. 

The  hero,  John  Toby,  introduced  as  a  "  smart,  active, 
good-looking,  talented,  young  Irishman,"  starts  off  in  life  under 
favorable  auspices ;  but  by  frequenting  the  Hon.  Michael 
Magreedy's  grocery  too  much,  brings  the  blight  of  intemper- 
ance upon  his  family  peace,  impoverishes  himself  and  destroys 
his    good    looks. 

Hon.  Michael  Magreedy,  "  blessed  Michael,  the  dark  angel," 
as  John  Toby  dubs  him,  kept  a  respectable  place,  where  no 
drunken  man  without  money  was  allowed  to  be  noisy.  At 
Magreedy's,  John  Toby  meets,  among  others,  O'Gammon.  de- 
scribed as  "  a  second-rate  lawyer,  a  prominent  politician  and 
a  member  of  assembly.  He  was  what  is  called  a  rising  young 
man;  a  man  of  good  reputation;  a  patriot  so  far  as  his  coun- 
try could  be  of  use  to  him;  a  conscientious  politician  so  far 
as  his  party  would  permit  him  to  be;  and  a  consistent  Chris- 
tion  so  far  as  religion  chimed  in  with  his  prospects  and  did 
not  interfere  with  the  satisfactory  buttering  of  his  bread. 
In  addition  to  all  these  virtues  he  had  taken  the  pledge  of 
total  abstinence  and  was  a  member  of  a  temperance  society." 

As  a  religious  man,  he  was  a  Christian  and  followed  his 
conscience;  as  a  citizen  he  was  a  party  man  and  always  voted 
in  the  interests  of  his  friends. 

With  this  political  Christian  and  Christian  politician,  John 
Toby    has    occasional    arguments,    which    show    among    other 


Wielding  Temperance  Seeikje-Uammeh.     269 

things  that  Mr.  O'G.  makes  a  serious  mistake  in  defending 
his  course  in  the  Legislature  as  a  representative  of  the  liquor 
interest,  and  in  attempting  to  justify  it  by  alleging  that  hia 
allegiance  to  his  constituency  excuses  him  for  voting  contrary 
to  the  dictates  of  sound  morality. 

Now,  in  John  Toby's  village  a  "  temperance  society  had 
been  started  by  a  priest  deeply  interested  in  the  cause." 

The  story  refers  to  the  different  notions  priests  have  in 
these  matters.  "  Some  give  pledges  in  one  way  and  some  in 
another.  Some  favor  societies  while  others  prefer  to  manage 
everything  of  the  kind  in  the  pulpit  and  in  the  confessional." 
But  whatever  the  peculiar  treatment  may  be,  whenever  a 
wise  and  zealous  priest  takes  hold  of  the  question,  he  makes 
it  move. 

Mrs.  Averill,  an  excellent  lady,  induces  John  to  take  the 
pledge,  awakens  his  self-respect  and  restores  him  by  kindness 
and  encouragement  —  not  alone  verbal,  but  pecuniary/-  The 
manner  in  which  it  is  done  gives  a  pleasant  termination  to 
the  story.  The  idea  of  a  story  upon  the  platform  is  a  taking 
one,  and  when  the  tale,  however  simple  the  plot,  is  nicely  told, 
it  is  a  most  effective  way  of  grafting  an  idea  upon  the  public 
mind. 


*  As  the  story  runs,  Mrs.  Averill  has  a  sudden  desire  for  a 
well,  and  persuades  her  husband  to  hire  John  Toby  to  dig  it. 
This  incident  is  founded  on  a  fact  in  the  life  of  Father  Wal- 
worth's mother.  She  had  a  well  dug,  aiding  thereby  the  re- 
form of  a   Saratoga  tippler. 


270     Life  Sketches  or  Father  Walworth. 


HONORS   TO  ASSEMBLYMAN   KEEGAN. 

He  is  Made  an  Honorary  Member  of  St.  Mary's  Guild,  and 
Presented  with  Regalia. 

(From  the  Albany  Evening  Times,   April  12,  1878.) 

An  informal  entertainment  was  given  last  evening  to  the 
Hon.  John  Keegan  of  the  Assembly,  at  41  Chapel  street, 
where  he  had  been  invited  to  meet  the  executive  committee 
of  St.  Mary's  Temperance  Guild.  In  the  course  of  the  eve- 
ning Father  Walworth  read  the  following  complimentary  ad- 
dress, in  the  form  of  a  letter: 

tit.  Mary's  Church, 

Albany,  April  8,  1878. 
To  the  Hon.  John  Keegan: 

Dear  Sib  —  Yesterday  evening  at  a  regular  meeting  of  St. 
Mary's  Temperance  Guild,  the  following  resolutions  were 
unanimously  and  enthusiastically  adopted: 

Resolved,  That  the  members  of  this  society  can  never  forget 
the  vote  cast  on  the  7th  of  March,  1878,  against  the  "  Daly 
excise  bill,"  by  the  Hon.  John  Keegan,  member  of  the  Assembly 
for  Queens  county;  and  especially  the  noble  words  which  ac- 
companied that  vote,  when  he  said: 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  people  who  sent  me  here  are  in 
favor  of  more  liberal  liquor  laws:  but  respect  for  the  oath 
which  I  took  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  January  demands  that  I 
shall  now  cast  a  vote  which  will  undoubtedly  consign  me  to 
political  oblivion.  I  believe  this  to  be  a  question  between  God 
and  the  devil,  between  Hell  and  Heaven,  and  I  vote  —  No." 

Resolved,  That  a  man  \vho  can  thus  deliberately  renounce 
his  hopes  of  political  preferment  in  obedience  to  his  conscience, 
and  who  so  truly  loves  the  best  happiness  of  his  constituents, 
is,  according  to  our  conviction,  a  hero.  We  hold  him  to  be 
an  honor  to  his  native  land,  as  well  as  to  this  country  which 
reared  him,  and  the  true  model  of  a  Christian  statesman  and 
patriot;  and  if  the  consequence  of  such  grandeur  of  soul  is  to 
exclude  him  from  our  State  and  national  councils,  we  bewail 
the  low  standard  of  public  morals. 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammee.     271 

Resolved,  That  as  a  token  of  our  admiration  and  esteem, 
the  said  John  Keegan  be  declared  and  hereby  is  constituted, 
an  honorary  senior  member  of  this  guild;  and  that  he  be  pre- 
sented with  the  suitable  regalia  representing  that  grade  of 
membership;  and  furthermore,  that  this  testimonial  is  not 
intended  by  us  to  entail  any  sort  of  obligation  upon  that 
honorable  gentleman,  beyond  his  acceptance  of  this,  our  homage 
of  respect. 

On  behalf  of  the  society  which  we  represent,  and  upon  our 
own  part,  we  feel  honored,  dear  Sir,  to  subscribe  ourselves. 

Clarence  A.  Walworth, 

Director. 
James  J.  Franklin, 

Regent. 
Edward  Judge, 

Vice-Regent. 
Thomas  Cavanaugh, 

Marshal. 
Charles  McAulay, 

Financial  Clerk. 
Owen  Kelly, 

Treasurer. 
William  Taafe, 

Secretary. 
A  handsome  box  containing  the  regalia  of  the  society,  with 
the  badge  worn  by  members  of  the  senior  grade,  was  then 
presented.  Mr.  Keegan  responded  in  a  very  happy  manner, 
and  with  great  feeling.  Two  hours  were  spent  in  social  enjoy- 
ment before  the  pleasant  party  broke  up. 

TOTAL  ABSTINENCE  UNION. 
(From  the  Troy  Press,  May  29,  1882.) 

The  State  convention  of  the  Metropolitan  Total  Abstinence 
Union  of  New  York  convened  at  the  City  Hall  this  morning. 
The  body  was  called  to  order  by  James  F.  Wilkinson  of 
Albany,  president  of  the  union.  Fifty-six  societies  are  repre- 
sented by  three  delegates  each.  The  union  has  powerful  organ- 
izations in  New  York,  Newburgh,  Yonkers,  Poughkeepsie,  Hud- 
son, Albany,  Saugerties,  Rondout,  Rochester,  Utica,  Syracuse, 


272     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walwoeth. 

Buffalo,  Auburn,  Oswego,  Troy  and  other  places.  After  the 
call  of  the  roll  the  delegates  visited  St.  Mary's  Church,  where 
Mass  was  celebrated  by  the  Rev.  Father  Havermans.  The 
members  of  the  convention  after  Mass  returned  to  the  City 
Hall,  about  11  o'clock.  After  being  called  to  order,  Rev. 
Clarence  A.  Walworth  of  Albany  presented  the  following  reso- 
lutions which  were  adopted  without  a  dissenting  vote: 

Resolved,  1st,  That  the  object  of  this  union  is  not  merely 
to  provide  for  the  safety  or  the  perfection  of  its  own  members, 
but  also  to  "  oppose  and  uproot  the  baneful  vice  of  drunken- 
ness,'" *  by  the  "  systematic  application  of  every  available 
means,  religious  or  otherwise." 

2d,  That  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  upon  the  Lord's 
Day  is  not  only  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  State  and  the 
precepts  of  the  Church,  but  also  a  fruitful  source  of  intem- 
perance; and  that  we  are  bound  in  the  very  nature  of  this 
union  to  oppose  it,  and  to  seek  by  every  available  means  to 
uproot  it. 

3d,  That  "  in  view  of  the  curse  of  drunkenness  which  lies 
like  a  blight  upon  this  generation,''  it  is  right  and  necessary 
to  surround  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks  by  salutary  re- 
straints of  law,  and  that  it  is  the  especial  vocation  of  tem- 
perance men  and  the  duty  of  all  good  citizens  to  sustain  such 
laws  and  encourage  their  enforcement. 

Father  Walworth's  Remarks. 

Father  Walworth  prefaced  his  resolutions  by  showing  the 
necessity  of  having  in  every  organization  definite  aims  and 
objects.  Special  efforts  should  be  made  to  produce  practical 
results,  by  an  accepted  plan  of  operations.  He  then  explained 
the  scope  and  bearing  of  each  resolution  in  detail,  bringing  to 
bear  illustrations  derived  from  long  experience.  His  explana- 
tion of  the  third  resolution  was  lengthy  and  forcible,  display- 
ing an  accurate  and  extensive  knowledge  of  the  Excise  Laws 
which  were  adopted  in  1857  by  the  Legislature  of  New  York 
State.     Father  Walworth's  ability  to  expound  the  laws  of  the 


•  The  words  In  quotation   marks  are  those  of   Pope   Leo   XIII., 
Dp.  O'Connor,  S.  J.,  and  Cardinal  Manning. 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.     273 

State  will  not  be  questioned  by  any  one  familiar  with  his 
early  life  and  his  intercourse  with  Chancellor  Walworth.  In 
conclusion,  Father  Walworth  urged  the  necessity  of  enforcing 
existing  laws  in  the  State  of  New  York  before  wasting  energy 
in  the  attempt  to  make  new  laws.  The  enemies  of  the  tem- 
perance cause  have  greater  opportunities  to  pervert  new  laws 
and  to  confuse  the  public  mind.  The  old  are  good,  have  been 
tested  and  fortified  by  competent  legal  interpretations,  and 
if  vigorously  applied  would  be  productive  of  excellent  results. 

The  Weekly  Union  of  New  York,  June  10,  1882, 
gives  the  wording  of  an  Address  to  the  Catholics  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  formulated  at  the  above  meet- 
ing; of  the  C.  T.  A.  Union  at  Trov  and  sisnied  by  the 
following  temperance  advocates  there  present:  Rev. 
Thos.  McMillan,  C.  S.  P.,  Rev.  J.  J.  Brennan, 
J.  W.  O'Brien,  A.  Patton,  W.  T.  Keene  and  J.  H. 

Smith. 

THE   EXCISE   QUESTION. 

(From  the  Argus,  March  3,  1883.) 

A  meeting  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Cities  and  Villages 
was  held  on  Thursday  afternoon,  and  a  hearing  given  to  a 
delegation  of  clergymen  of  Albany,  who  appeared  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  sweeping  amendment  of  the  "  Excise  Laws  "  con- 
tained in  the  act  recently  passed  through  the  Assembly. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Battershall  of  St.  Peter's  opened  the  question, 
first  introducing  to  the  committee  the  Rev.  Wm.  S.  Smart 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Rev.  Henry  M.  King,  of 
the  Emanuel  Baptist  Church,  Father  Walworth,  of  St.  Mary's 
and  Rev.  James  H.  Ecob,  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church. 
These  gentlemen  all  addressed  the  committee  in  the  order 
named.     *     *     * 

Father  Walworth  spoke  at  considerable  length.  He  said 
that  although  not  a  member  of  the  clerical  committee,  he 
was  very  glad  to  appear  upon  their  invitation.  *  *  *  He 
declared  that  the  Excise  Laws  of  1857,  as  they  stood  in  their 
original  symmetry,  constituted  a  wise,  beautiful  and  thorough 


274-     Liff  'Sketches  of  Father  Walwoeth. 

system.  *  *  *  Although,  unfortunately,  they  had  been 
injured  by  amendments,  and  although  they  had  been  and  still 
were  too  generally  evaded,  they  had  not  lost  all  their  ex- 
cellence nor  could  they  be  considered  as  entirely  inoperative. 
This  he  based  not  only  upon  his  own  experience,  but  upon  the 
fact  of  the  constant  effort  made  by  liquor  traders  to  ruin 
the  law  by  amendments  or  by  repeal.  He  repudiated  tne  idea 
that  the  Legislature  should  legislate  chiefly  for  the  interests 
of  the  trade,  but  rather  in  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  in 
pity  and  mercy  for  the  millions  suffering  through  the  trade, 
and  whose  numbers  and  whose  woes  were  always  increased  by 
every  extension  of  the  so-called  liquor  interest. 

He  gave  a  short  history  also,  of  the  Excise  Laws,  to  show 
that  the  complications  of  the  law,  as  it  stands,  had  not 
grown  out  of  defects  in  the  law,  but  to  meet  the  wishes  of 
violators  of  the  law,  and  the  perjuries  of  government  officials. 
He  agreed  with  those  who  had  preceded  him  in  demanding 
that  the  law  should  be  left  without  further  mutilation  until 
neecessity  for  it  should  be  done  away  with,  by  some  strong 
substitute  of  greater  simplicity  and  still  more  effective  to 
suppress  intemperance,  such  as  the  high  licenses  already  pro- 
posed.    *     *     * 

Senator  McCarthy  remarked,  as  the  reverend  gentlemen  re- 
tired, that  manifestly  political  questions  had  no  place  in  their 
arguments  or  their  thoughts. 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.     275 

RESTRAINT,   NOT   PROHIBITION. 
An  Opinion  on  Local  Option. 

In  "An  Answer  to  Neal  Dow  "  printed  in  The 
Catholic  World,  and  beginning  with  the  text  of 
Governor  Dow's  Letter  to  the  editor  of  that  maga- 
zine, dated  at  "  Portland,  Maine,  September  27, 
1883,"  Father  Walworth  writes,  as  follows: 

The  earnest  and  sincere  advocates  of  sobriety,  good  order 
and  happiness  in  society  must  unite  wherever  they  can.  We 
cannot  afford  to  treat  each  other  as  foes,  and  thus  play  into 
the  hands  of  the  common  enemy. 

This  great  question  in  New  York  State  is  fast  approaching 
to  a  crisis.  Late  events  have  done  much  to  reveal  the  animus 
and  tyranny  of  the  liquor-trade.  It  is  munificent  in  its 
bribes,  unbounded  in  its  exactions,  and  in  its  dominion  as 
merciless  as  Fate. 

"  The  patient  Daemon  sits 

With  roses  and  a  shroud; 
He  has  his  way,  and  deals  his  gifts  — 

But  ours  is  not  allowed." 

Never  before  were  its  janissaries  so  bold  and  unscrupulous, 
and  never  before  did  its  slaves  so  feel  the  lash.  But  its  do- 
minion must  soon  come  to  a  close.  The  Commonwealth  is 
awaking  to  the  danger.  The  cause  is  not  now  a  cause  of 
temperance  societies.  The  people  feel  a  fatal  drain  which 
flutters  the  common  heart.  They  demand  that  something  shall 
be  done;  and  they  demand  a  something  that  shall  be  effectual. 
What  shall  it  be? 

This  question  is  n  political  one,  but  not  in  any  sense  of 
party  politics.  It  is  not  a  question  of  religion,  though  it  has 
a  religious  side  on  which  men  must  face  their  consciences  and 
square  themselves  with  the  eternal  principles  of  morality. 
Men  of  all  religious  denominations  and  men  who  belong  to 
none  can  join  heartily  in  combined  effort  to  procure  good  laws 
for  the  suppression  of  intemperance.     *     *     * 


276     Life  Sketches  of  Fathef*  Walworth. 

Most  Catholics,  I  think,  share  the  reluctance  felt  by  so  many 
others  to  a  total  prohibition  of  the  sale.  A  restraint  upon 
natural  liberty  so  absolute  and  unsparing,  although  not  beyond 
the  altum  dominium  which  pertains  to  the  State,  cannot  be 
wise    until    its    necessity   as    a    last    resort    becomes    evident. 

*  *     *     Expedients  less  trenchant  are  not  yet  all  exhausted. 
Whatever  measure  may  be  adopted,  it  may  be  made  secura 

and  permanent  in  its  fundamental  policy  by  a  constitutional 
provision.  Experience  shows  that  any  code  provided  by  one 
Legislature  is  soon  rescinded  or  fatallv  mutilated  by  another. 
In  New  York  State  this  is  certain.  The  great  body  of  the 
people  are  engaged  in  their  own  private  affairs,  and  cannot  be 
roused  to  action  every  year  on  questions  affecting  the  general 
welfare. 

'Tis  the  day  of  the  chattel, 

Web  to  weave,  and  corn  to  grind; 

Things  are  in  the  saddle, 
And   ride   mankind. 

The  liquor-dealers,  however,  when  grinding  their  own  corn, 
are  always  face  to  face  with  this  question.  Their  private  in- 
terest is  always  at  stake.  Whatever  diminishes  drinking 
diminishes  their  gains  and  commands  their  constant  attention. 
They  are  banded  together  in  a  league  which  sits  continually, 
deliberates  secretly,  acts  quickly,  ostracizes  mercilessly.  Those 
in  the  trade  (and  such  there  are)  who  would  willingly  recon- 
cile it  with  their  consciences,  who  would  gladly  see  it  re- 
stricted to  fewer  and  more  respectable  hands,  are  made  to  play 
their  part  in  the  ring  under  the  vigilance  of  eyes  whose  jealousy 
they  dare  not  awaken.  *  *  *  It  marks  tradesmen  with  a 
ban  and  forbids  to  trade  with  them.  It  has  a  common  purse, 
which  can  be  drawn  upon  at  short  notice  and  used  secretly. 

*  *  *  How  readily  this  trade  can  undo  in  a  single  session 
what  the  people,  rising  in  their  might,  had  decreed  and  meant 
to  establish  forever!  *  *  *  Is  it  wonderful  that  so  many 
call  for  a  constitutional  provision?     *     *     * 

We  must  not  look  to  the  civil  law  to  do  all  the  work. 
Other  forces,  moral  and  religious,  must  carry  the  reformation 
farther.     *     *     * 

"  Local  option "  leaves  the  front  gates  of  Hell  open.  It 
abandons    New    York    city    and    Brooklyn    and    all    the    large 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.     277 

cities  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  great  moral  monster. 
Let  every  citizen  take  his  conscience  in  his  hand 
when  lie  goes  to  the  polls.  Let  him  ask  himself  if  this  cause 
does  not  lift  itself  high  above  every  question  of  party  politics. 
Let  him  see  that  he  helps  into  office  no  hireling  of  the  trade, 
nor  any  one  that  cannot  be  counted  on  to  sustain  wholesome 
laws  restraining  it.  And,  finally,  let  not  the  friends  of  so- 
briety lose  courage  from  past  failures  or  mistakes.  To  use 
the  old  rhyme  which  Sir  Walter  Scott  so  delighted  in: 

"  If  it  isna  weel  bobbit 
Weel    bobbit,    weel    bobbit, 
If  it  isna  weel  bobbit, 
Wee'll  bob  it  again." 


*e* 


THE  HIGH  LICENSE   BILL. 

INTERESTING     HEARING     BEFORE     THE     LEGISLATIVE     COMMITTEE. 

(From  the  Albany  Times,  Feb.  26,  1886.) 

Conflicting  Views  on  the  Subject  —  Lawyers,  Ministers,  Pro- 
hibitionists  and  Brewers   Express   Their   Sentiments. 

The  first  hearing  of  this  session  of  the  Legislature  on  the 
High  License  Bill  was  held  by  the  Excise  Committee  at  the 
Assembly  Chamber,  last  evening.  *  *  *  Among  those 
present  were  Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  Robert  Graham, 
Austin  Abbott,  Gen.  Wager  Swayne  of  New  York,  Rev. 
George  Muller,  H.  Clay  Bascom,  Father  Walworth,  Rev.  Dr. 
Battershall,  Rev.  Mr.  Kenyon,  Rev.  Mr.  Fulcher,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
George  R.  Howell,  Fred  H.  Wheeler,  Aaron  Veeder,  Assembly- 
men Erwin  and  O'Brien,  Henry  Clausen  of  New  York;  Mayor 
Fitzgerald  of  Troy;  William  N.  Outhout,  Henry  Bartholomew 
and  Moses  Hayes,  of  Rochester.     *     *     * 

Father  Walworth  said  he  had  been  requested  to  speak  on  the 
subject  because,  as  he  was  a  Catholic  priest,  he  would  be  sup- 
posed to  represent  that  Church.  He  did  not  claim  to  do  that, 
and  did  not  feel  entitled  to  represent  the  views  of  Catholics. 
That  Church,  however,  had  spoken  with  authority  to  her 
children  on  this  subject.  Here  he  read  the  following  extract 
from  the  pastoral  letter  of  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  of 
the  United  States  in  the  Third  Plenary  Council  at  Baltimore 
in   1884: 


278     Life  Sketches  or  Father  Wax, worth. 

"  There  is  one  way  of  profaning  the  Lord's  Day  which  is 
so  prolific  of  evil  results  that  we  consider  it  our  duty  to  utter 
against  it  a  special  condemnation.  This  is  the  practice  of 
selling  beer  or  other  liquors  on  Sunday,  or  of  frequenting 
places  where  they  are  sold.  This  practice  tends  more  than 
any  other  to  turn  the  day  of  the  Lord  into  a  day  of  dis- 
sipation —  to  use  it  as  an  occasion  for  breeding  intemperance. 
While  we  hope  that  Sunday  laws  on  this  point  will  not  be 
relaxed  but  even  more  rigidly  enforced,  we  implore  all 
Catholics,  for  the  love  of  God  and  of  country,  never  to  take 
part  in  such  Sunday  traffic,  nor  to  patronize  or  countenance 
it.  And  we  not  only  direct  the  attention  of  all  pastors  to  the 
repression  of  this  abuse,  but  we  also  call  upon  them  to  induce 
all  of  their  flocks  that  may  be  engaged  in  the  sale  of  liquors 
to  abandon  as  soon  as  they  can  the  dangerous  traffic,  and  to 
embrace  a  more  becoming  way  of  making  a  living." 

In  The  Voice  of  New  York,  March  4,  1886, 
the  conclusion  of  this  same  speech  of  Father  Wal- 
worth is  thus  reported: 

Speaking  of  the  argument  often  used,  that  moral  suasion  is 
what  is  needed  and  not  legal  restriction,  he  said :  "  Who  is  it 
that  needs  more  persuasion  on  the  evils  of  intemperance  and 
the  necessity  for  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquor?  Is 
it  the  drunkard?"  Then  raising  his  hands  toward  Heaven, 
and  in  a  very  effective  manner,  he  continued,  "  0  my  God !  if 
I  could  show  the  crowds  of  men  and  women  that  come  to  my 
home  for  assistance  on  account  of  this  drink  devil !  I  am  sure 
you  would  not  think  they  needed  to  be  persuaded!  Every 
man  of  them  wishes  the  accursed  traffic  was  in  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean.  They  are  weak,  gentlemen,  they  cannot  resist  the 
fearful  appetites  and  passions  which  are  fastened  upon  them, 
while  the  temptations  and  pitfalls  are  upon  every  hand,  and 
they  are  looking  hopefully  to  you  to  lend  them  the  strong 
arm  of  the  law  to  succor  them  from  a  hell  upon  earth  and 
a  fearful  eternity.'" 

He  then  refuted  very  emphatically  the  statement  of  Howard 
Crosbv  that  beer  and  wine  were  drinks  that  should  be  en- 
couraged.     I  could  but  notice  and  study  (adds  the  correspond- 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-]  I  a.\i  m  eb.     279 

ent)  the  faces  of  Dr.  Crosby  and  Robert  Graham,  as  they  saw 
their  pet  theories  and  arguments  so  ruthlessly  demolished  by 
a  speaker  introduced  by  themselves  to  support  their  own  bill. 
*  *  *  Mr.  Bascom  was  followed  by  Prof.  Cook  of  Potsdam. 
Among  the  beer  speakers  was  a  very  small  man,  with  a  very 
small  head,  a  retreating  forehead,  a  very  long  nose,  with  a 
large  pair  of  glasses  on  the  extreme  end  of  the  same,  and  a 
squeaky  voice  and  broken  dialect.  His  most  important  and 
philosophical  statement  was: 

•'  Mr.  Cheerman,  dese  demperance  beeples  are  crazy.  Dey 
tinks  dey  can  shtop  de  visky  bizness.  It  vould  be  shust  as 
zensible  to  make  a  law  vat  vould  make  ebery  von  of  dem 
demperance  mans  drink,  vedder  he  vanted  to  or  not,  as  to 
make  a  law  vat  says,  '  no  pody  shall  have  a  schooner  of 
larger  ven  he  vants  one.'  "  *     *     * 

The  hearing  was  adjourned  at  10.30  until  some  future  date. 
I  am  told  the  committee  having  in  charge  the  bill  to  submit 
the  amendment  to  the  people  have  privately  decided  to  report 
the  bill  favorably,  and  that  the  plan  is  to  pass  it  in  the 
Assembly  and  kill  it  in  the  Senate.  *  *  *  Meanwhile  the 
thinking  men  in  the  State  are  slowly  getting  their  eyes  open, 
and  a  great  political  revolution  is  inevitable  in  the  near 
future. 

This  last-quoted  report  is  signed,  Fred  H. 
Wheeler.  The  bill  referred  to  was  drafted  bv  Mr. 
Austin  Abbott. 

A  NEW  EPvA. 

(From  the  Chicago  Inter-Ocean,  March  6,  1887.) 

Father  Walworth  at  the  High  Mass  in  St.  Mary's  Church, 
at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  on  Sunday  morning,  delivered  the  following 
discourse  upon  the  subject  of  the  Law  and  Order  League: 

'■  By  me  kings  reign  and  law-givers  decree  justice."  Prov. 
vii.  16. 

Dear  Brethren  —  All  good  citizens  acknowledge  the  au- 
thority of  law.  We  Christian  men  have  stronger  reasons  than 
any  to  acknowledge  and  obey  it,  for  we  recognize  the  principle 
that  all  law  derives  its  authority  from  the  will  of  God.  It  is 
our  religion  above  all  that  teaches  us  to  be  the  friends  and 


280     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walwokth. 

supporters  of  law  and  order.  I  have  a  special  reason  for 
addressing  you  on  this  subject  this  morning.  To  my  mind, 
the  past  week  has  been  a  memorable  one  for  Albany.  It  has 
been  made  memorable  by  the  assembling,  at  the  City  Hall,  of 
the  delegates  of  the  National  Law  and  Order  League  in  annual 
convention.  I  am  no  prophet;  but  yet  the  picture  of  these 
gentlemen  assembled  at  the  City  Hall  last  Monday  and  Tues- 
day stands  fixed  in  my  mind  like  a  prophetic  vision  of  the 
future.  In  their  wise  deliberations  and  in  their  quiet  but 
resolute  faces  I  see  the  coming  triumph  of  law  and  order  in 
our  beloved  country.  I  mean  the  triumph  of  the  country  over 
the  greatest  foe  of  law  and  order,  viz. :  Over  the  lawless  liquor 

traffic.     *     *     * 

The  temperance  cause  hitherto  has  excluded  from  its  ranks 
a  large  number  of  citizens  whose  co-operation  is  absolutely 
necessary    to    chastise    the    liquor    sellers    into    good    order. 

*  *  *  The  motto  has  been  "  no  moderate  drinkers  need 
apply."  *  *  *  But  now,  my  dear  brethren,  a  new  era  has 
dawned  on  the  temperance  cause.  A  new  army  is  advancing. 
We  hear  the  well-regulated  tread  of  steady  feet.  It  is  the 
advance  of  the  Law  and  Order  League.  Business  is  to  be 
done,  and  men  of  business  are  coming  to  do  it.  Laws  are  to 
be  enforced,  and  men  are  coming  who  know  the  laws  and 
know  how  to  enforce  them.  *  *  *  All  men  of  all  classes, 
all  religions,  all  professions,  all  occupations,  all  modes  of 
thought  and  all  habits  of  life,  who  love  law  and  order  are  ex- 
pected and   cordially  invited  to  take  part  in  the  movement. 

*  *  *  The  intention  of  the  league  is  "to  secure  by  all 
proper  ways  the  enforcement  of  existing  laws,  relating  to  the 
liquor  traffic."  *  *  *  The  Law  and  Order  League  has  a 
peculiar  and  special  work  before  it  which  can  only  be  done 
and  done  well  by  laying  aside  all  that  is  peculiar  in  religious 
or  social  life  and  making  the  league  a  unit  of  strength,  its 
exercises  such  as  to  exclude  none,  and  its  halls  of  meeting 
such  that  every  good  citizen  can  feel  at  home  when  there. 

The  Rev.  Father  concluded  his  sermon  by  urging  the  mem- 
bers of  his  congregation  to  join  the  league  and  hand  in  their 
names  as  subscribing  members  of  the  Albany  branch.* 


*  Manv  of  those  formerly  active,  in  the  old  "Law  and  Order  League, 
are   continuing  their  patriotic  work  under  another  name  in  the   newer 
organizations  for  "Municipal  Reform." 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.     281 

SUNDAY  TRAFFIC. 

(From    The    Catholic    Review,    a    weekly    newspaper,    March 

15,  1891.) 
The  Excise  Committee  of  the  Assembly  on  Thursday,  March 
oth,  gave  a  hearing  (if  hearing  it  may  be  called)  on  the 
Schaff  bill  which,  amongst  other  abominations,  opens  the  Sun- 
day to  liquor  selling  from  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  until 
midnight.  *  *  *  When  Father  Walworth's  turn  came  to 
speak,  he  said  that  under  the  ruling  of  the  committee  (to 
which  he  and  Mr.  Chapman  had  objected  as  unfair)  he  could 
not  pretend  to  offer  an  argument,  but  had  only  time  enough 
to  enter  a  protest  against  the  bill,  which  he  would  do  in 
compliance  with  a  letter  of  request  from  the  secretary  of  the 
Excise  Association.  *  *  *  In  the  course  of  his  remarks, 
he  said :  "  The  liquor  dealers  wield  a  great  power.  * 
Their  strength  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  two  great  political 
parties  in  the  State  are  so  nearly  equal  that  the  balance  of 
power  is  often  in  their  hands.  This  false  cry  for  freedom  of 
the  liquor  business  and  for  personal  liberty  does  not  come 
from  the  people  of  New  York.  *  *  *  In  the  name  of  the 
true  people  who  are  your  constituents,  in  the  name  of  all  the 
friends  of  quiet  worship  in  the  church  and  of  rest  in  the 
household,  in  the  name  of  God  and  of  conscience,  I  here  enter 
this  protest  against  the  Schaff  bill  and  all  similar  bills.  I 
trust  that  our  protest  will  reach  the  Assembly.     *     *     *  ' 

(From  the  Albany  Evening  Journal,  March  16,  1891.) 
The  Rev.  Father  Walworth,  of  old  St.  Mary's,  delivered  one 
of  his  characteristically  strong  sermons  yesterday  at  the 
morning  service.  It  was  caused  by  the  refusal  of  the  Demo- 
cratic leaders  in  the  Assembly  to  receive  a  petition  from  the 
Roman  Catholic  clergy  of  the  State  against  the  Schaff  Excise 
Bill,  which  action  has  caused  the  greatest  indignation  through- 
out the  State.  Father  Walworth  took  for  his  text :  "  Remem- 
ber that  thou  keep  holy  the  Sabbath  day." 

BIG  EXCISE  HEARING. 

(From  the  Argus,  February   12,  1892.) 

The  Assembly  chamber  was  crowded  yesterday  afternoon  at 

the  hearing,  on  the  excise  bill.     *     *     *     Judge  Arnoux  said 

there  were  representatives  of  various  societies  present,  and  he 


282     Life  Sketches  of  Fathek  Walworth. 

did  not  think  they  could  all  present  their  objections  this 
afternoon.  They  would  ask  for  a  further  hearing,  therefore. 
He  said  that  an  eminent  Catholic  clergyman,  Rev.  Father 
Walworth  of  Albany,  notwithstanding  his  physical  infirmities, 
had  consented  to  be  present,  and  he  asked  that  he  be  heard 
first. 

His  speech  on  this  occasion  was  widely  reported. 
Here  is  a  brief  notice  of  it : 

The  Albany  correspondent  of  the  Brooklyn  Eagle  gives  a 
graphic  account  of  Father  Walworth's  appearance  at  the  hear- 
ing against  the  liquor  dealers'  excise  bill,  in  the  following 
words : 

There  was  a  dramatic  scene  in  the  Assembly  Chamber  on 
Thursday  afternoon  during  the  progress  of  the  hearing  on  the 
liquor  dealers'  excise  bill.  It  was  when  Father  Walworth, 
pastor  of  the  oldest  Catholic  Church  in  Albany,  declared  his 
allegiance  to  truth  as  the  stronger  force  in  the  world.  His 
appearance  is  that  of  the  ideal  priest.  He  is  tall  and  straight 
and  graceful.  His  pale  face  is  intellectual  and  stern  in  repose, 
but  it  became  gentle  at  times  as  he  spoke.  The  bald  spot  on 
his  head  was  covered  with  a  close-fitting  velvet  skull  cap, 
from  which  his  silver  hair  projected  as  a  halo.  After  saying 
that  there  were  many  men  in  public  life  who  kept  watch  of  the 
various  forces  and  allied  themselves  with  the  stronger  force, 
and  that  many  thought  that  the  liquor  party  was  stronger 
than  any  other,  he  said  that  he  was  reminded  of  the  legend 
of  St.  Christopher  who  made  a  vow  to  serve  the  strongest 
master  and  allied  himself  with  the  devil.  While  traveling 
in  company  with  the  devil  one  day,  they  approached  a  crucifix 
and  the  devil  quaked  with  fear  and  told  Christopher  that  it 
represented  the  King  of  Glory.  As  a  result  Christopher  de- 
cided to  serve  the  King  of  Glory,  who  was  stronger  than  the 
devil.  *  *  *  Here  the  venerable  priest  raised  himself 
to  his  full  height  and  said: 

"  Like  St.  Christopher,  in  early  youth  I  made  a  vow  to  serve 
the  stronger,  to  serve  the  King  of  Glory.  If  the  power  which 
the  advocates  of  this  bill  represent  is  the  stronger  power, 
then  all  mv  life  has  been  a  failure.     But  I  don't  believe  it. 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge- 1 1  am  mer.     283 

I  believe  that  truth  and  right  always  win  the  last  battle." 
Then  with  his  voice  quivering  with  scorn,  he  demanded :  "  Who 
is  the  King  of  Glory  which  these  men  serve?  Is  it  King  Billy 
McGlory,  the  prince  of  dive  keepers?  Do  they  think  that  he 
and  his  kind  are  the  stronger  force?"  Later  in  the  hearing 
Excise  Commissioner  William  J.  Andrews,  of  New  York,  in 
defending  the  Sunday  opening  clause  of  the  bill,  said  that  in 
Europe  both  priests  and  people  visited  the  beer  gardens  on 
Sunday  afternoon  after  service  and  drank  in  public;  and  re- 
marked that  the  Church  was  evidently  in  favor  of  such 
practices  there.  The  priest  turned  on  him  with  his  face 
flushed  with  indignation  at  such  an  imputation,  and  de- 
manded : 

"  Do  you  find  any  such  thing  in  the  canons  of  the  Catholic 
Church?  That  is  the  place  to  look  for  them.  They  say  that 
it  is  a  disgrace." 

Father  Walworth  is  a  picturesque  figure,  and  he  had  closer 
attention  while  he  spoke  than  was  accorded  to  any  one  else. 

FATHER    WALWORTH    PAYS    HIS    COMPLIMENTS    TO 

CHOKER   &   CO. 

(From  the  Albany  Evening  Journal,  Feb.  22,  1892.) 

*  *  *  Father  Walworth  said  that  he  had  come  from  a 
sick-bed  to  speak  to  his  congregation  in  warning  against  the 
monster  that  was  in  their  midst  —  an  infamous  monster  with 
four  heads  and  forty  thousand  horns.  The  terrible  heads  of 
the  monster  are  the  four  leaders  of  Tammany  Hall  and  the 
horns  are  the  liquor  sellers  numbered  by  their  statistics. 

The  Catholic  clergy  appealed  to  the  legislators  last  year  and 
their  appeal  was  rejected.  *  *  *  The  clergy  would  not 
attempt  another  petition  to  the  Assembly.  They  would  appeal 
to  the  people  of  the  State  —  would  appeal  to  them,  for  the 
love  and  honor  of  the  Most  High,  to  rescue  themselves  and 
their  Legislature  from  out  of  the  hands  and  influence  of  bad 
men,  to  remove  the  influence  of  Tammany  Hall  —  that  blot  of 
iniquity  on  the  escutcheon  of  the  Democracy  of  New  York 
State. 


284     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

When  Democrats  of  New  York  had  gathered  to  the  ratifica- 
tion meeting  got  up  by  Tammany  Hall  — 

0,  where  was  Cleveland  then? 
One  blast  upon  his  bugle  horn 
Were  worth  a  thousand  men. 

The  platform  as  now  adopted  by  Tammany  leaders  was  miser- 
ably defective  and  misleading;  it  was  an  outrage. 

On  the  Excise  Laws,  he  said,  there  should  be  no  repeal 
whatever,  unless  it  be  to  increase  the  restrictions  without 
changing  the  language  of  our  time-honored  statutes. 

On  the  ballot  question,  he  said  that  no  man  who  sold  liquor 
or  enlisted  in  any  capacity  in  the  liquor  interest  should  be 
voted  for. 

Speaking  of  the"  sale  of  liquors  on  Sundays,  he  said  that 
there  should  be  no  sale  of  liquor  on  the  Lord's  Day;  not  even 
for  a  minute,  night  or  day.  Let  the  thirsty  go  thirsty  from 
Saturday  to  Monday  in  God's  name.  They  had  done  it  before 
and  could  do  it  again. 

The  Tammany  Hall  delegation  were  in  Albany 
at  the  time.  Mr.  Croker  himself,  unknown  to  the 
pastor,  was  in  the  church  listening  to  these  words. 
At  the  church  door,  he  was  asked  by  a  member  of 
the  congregation  what  he  thought  of  the  preaching, 
and  was  heard  to  exclaim,  as  he  slowly  shook  his 
head:     "  Well!  that  sermon  takes  the  cake!3 

The  next  vear,  Father  Walworth  contributed  the 
following  article  to  a  local  newspaper: 

THE  CAUSE  OF  TEMPERANCE. 
(From  the  Albany  Knickerbocker,  Oct.  9,  1893.) 
Editors  Press:  *  *  *  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  my 
fellow  citizens,  especially  the  attention  of  those  who  like  my- 
self are  Democrats,  to  the  platform  adopted  by  the  Democratic 
convention  at  Saratoga  which  closed  its  strange  proceedings 
yesterday.  I  pass  by  all  other  questions  as  being  for  the 
present  moment  of  lesser  importance  than  this  one  great 
moral  and  religious  matter. 


Wielding  Temperance  Sledge-Hammer.     285 

The  Democratic  platform  just  adopted  at  Saratoga  expects 
me  and  all  other  friends  of  temperance  in  the  Democratic 
party  to  swallow  the  following  monstrous  lie.  After  justly 
glorifying  the  said  party  of  the  State  now  in  power  fot  several 
reforms  which  it  had  inaugurated  and  carried  out,  it  mentions 
the  following  as  one: 

"  It  has  placed  on  the  statute-books  a  new  Excise  Law, 
revising  and  consolidating  previous  confused  and  conflicting 
statutes  —  a  measure  intelligently  and  equitably  framed,  care- 
fully regulating  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  prescribing 
just  fees  for  licenses,  and  preserving  all  needed  restrictions 
for  the  maintenance  of  order  and  the  good  of  society." 

I  deny  that  it  has  made  the  statutes  less  confused  and 
conflicting  than  they  were  before.  *  *  *  I  deny  that  it 
carefully  regulates  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  I  deny 
that  it  prescribes  just  fees  for  licenses.  It  simply  provides 
very  low  fees  for  licentious  traffic,  traffic  on  Sundays,  traffic 
to  keep  young  people  out  late  at  night  in  unhealthy  exercise 
and  with  dangerous  companions  filled  with  drink.  It  takes 
away  the  right  from  officers  of  the  law  to  become  witnesses 
capable  of  proving  the  unlawful  sales.  It  takes  away  from 
unfortunate  wives  and  husbands  the  power  of  prosecuting 
saloon-keepers  *  *  *  for  destroying  the  family  peace.  I 
deny  that  the  present  Excise  Law  preserves  all  needed  restric- 
tions for  the  maintenance  of  order  and  the  good  of  society. 
It  is,  on  the  contrary,  the  chief  promoter  of  riots  and  dis- 
order. It  adds  penury  and  incarceration  to  the  misery  and 
disgrace  of  the  poor. 

I  leave  to  my  Protestant  fellow  citizens  the  task  of  saying 
what  their  churches  think  of  this  hypocritical  plank  in  the 
platform.  My  eyes,  now  almost  blinded,  only  allow  me  and 
that  with  difficultv.  to  follow  what  the  church,  which  I  believe 
in  and  follow  with  loving  trust,  thinks  and  says  of  all  this 
fol-de-rol. 

The  Columbian  Catholic  Congress  of  the  United  States  as- 
sembled in  Chicago  last  month  adopted  a  platform  contain- 
ing as  its  ninth  resolution  several  wise  and  salutary  pro- 
visions regarding  the  cause  of  temperance.  For  brevity's  sake, 
we  give  only  the  following: 


286     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

••  We  favor  the  enactment  of  appropriate  legislation  to  re- 
strict and  regulate  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors;  and  em- 
phasizing the  admonition  of  the  last  Plenary  Council  of  Balti- 
more, We  urge  Catholics  everywhere  to  get  out  and  keep  out 
of  the  saloon  business." 

In  attendance  at  this  Catholic  Congress,  amidst  a  vast 
crowd  of  clergymen  and  laymen,  were  present,  Monsignor 
Satolli,  the  Apostolic  Delegate  of  our  Holy  Father,  Leo  XIII; 
Cardinal  Gibbons,  who  opened  the  congress,  had  been  obliged 
by  other  duties  to  leave;  our  own  Archbishop,  Most  Rev.  M. 
A.  Corrigan  of  New  York,  was  there;  as  also  Archbishop 
Ryan,  of  Philadelphia,  Archbishop  Elder  of  Cincinnati,  Arch- 
bishop Ireland  of  St.  Paul  and  a  crowd  of  other  prelates  and 
distinguished  priests  and  laymen,  too  numerous  to  mention. 
*  *  *  Others  will  do  as  their  judgment  and  conscience 
may  direct.  For  my  part  to  whatever  extent  I  may  support 
the  State  ticket,  I  will  never  consent  to  give  my  vote  for  any 
legislator,  common  councilman  or  any  judicial  officer  who  will 
not  publicly  discard  this  plank  in  the  platform  and  promise 
to  give  his  vote  and  influence  against  it,  if  elected. 

C.  A.  WALWORTH. 

The  above  clipping  was  the  last  one  on  the  subject 
of  Temperance  which  Father  Walworth  pasted  into 
his  scrap-book.  His  long  fight  against  the  liquor  in- 
terests in  New  York  State  was  drawing  to  a  close. 
His  clarion  voice  had  filled  the  Assembly  Chamber 
for  the  last  time.  The  twilight  of  old  age  was  upon 
him.  Had  the  Democratic  leaders  given  better  heed 
to  his  warnings  and  others  like  his,  though  less  boldly 
spoken,  they  might  have  been  longer  at  the  helm. 
Less  discredit  would  have  fallen  on  the  good  old 
party  of  the  plain  people  in  the  great  Empire  State, 
which  in  our  day,  like  Virginia  of  old,  has  proved 
herself  to  be  a  nursing  mother  of  Presidents. 


XIII. 

A  CITIZEN   OF    NO  MEAN   CITY. 

The  Albany  Bi-Centennial— The  American  Sunday — 

Letters  of  Officials. 

The  Christmas  Argus  for  the  year  1903  contained 
these  words  from  the  pen  of  Rev.  J.  J.  Lynch, 
S.  T.  L.,  wherein  appears  with  crystaline  clearness  a 
prevailing  local  opinion  as  to  the  citizenship  of  one 
who  had  been  three  years  dead: 

"  Father  Walworth,  that  earnest,  tireless  worker 
in  the  cause  of  total  abstinence,  is  still  lovingly  re- 
membered in  Albany  where  his  civic  activity  brought 
him  into  friendly  relations  with  many  good  men  who 
were  not  of  his  belief,  but  whose  esteem  and  affec- 
tion he  won  without  yielding  one  jot  or  tittle  of  his 
whole  principle,  which  rested  on  the  firm  rock  of 
Catholic  faith,  thus  surmounting  the  barriers  of 
prejudice  and  bigotry." 

The  first  clergyman  at  Fort  Orange,  Dominie 
Megapolensis,  had  befriended  the  Jesuit  priest,  Isaac 
Jogues,  whose  dangerous  work  of  converting  savages 
brought  him  into  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson  valleys  in 
1642;  and,  on  equally  firm  planks  of  friendship  at 
the  same  spot,  have  stood  the  moral  leaders  of  New 
York's  Capital  City  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Thereby,  their  power  for  good 
has  been   much   strengthened.     Her   citizens   gener- 


288     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

ally  will  not  deny  that  the  personality  and  patriot- 
ism of  Father  Walworth,  together  with  his  love  of 
local  history,  had  a  generous  share  in  cementing 
that  friendship. 

When  their  talented  Mayor,  John  Boyd  Thacher, 
afterward  prominent  at  the  Chicago  World's  Fair, 
and  who  has  not  ceased  to  add  to  his  store  of  his- 
torical knowledge,  determined  in  1886  to  celebrate 
the  Bi-Centennial  of  Albany's  City  Charter,  Father 
Walworth  went  heart  and  soul  into  the  project. 
Both  were  fond  of  Indian  lore,  and  determined  that 
the  aborigines  should  be  represented  at  the  celebra- 
tion ;  and  so  they  were.  Invitations  were  sent  to 
Mohawk  Indians,  and  as  Father  Walworth  already 
knew  a  number  of  them  he  was  promised  a  cordial 
welcome  to  as  many  as  he  should  persuade  to  appear. 
Chief  Joseph  Skye  of  Caughnawaga,  P.  Q.,  agreed  to 
bring  with  him  a  score  or  more  of  his  tribe,  including 
singers  skillful  in  Iroquois  music,  from  the  old  Mis- 
sion settlement  near  the  Great  Rapid  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  river.  Others  were  expected  to  come 
from  the  St.  Regis  Reservation  in  New  York 
State.  These  Mohawks  had  not,  like  those  at  Brant- 
ford,  sided  against  us  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  In 
the  War  of  1812,  St.  Regis  had  furnished  us  with 
staunch  defenders  on  the  side  of  the  United  States. 
The  far  earlier  friendship  of  the  Dutch  burghers  and 
Mohawks  was  still  remembered  by  these  civilized 
and  now  thoroughly  Christian  descendants  of  those 
most  warlike  people  of  the  famous  Five  Nations  of 
Iroquois.  It  was  at  Albany,  then  Fort  Orange,  that 
they  had  first  secured  better  weapons  than  arrows; 
there  in  the  early  days  abundance  of  powder  and  shot 


A  Citizen  of  Xo  Mean  City.  289 

could  be  had  for  beaver  skins,  as  well  as  beads, 
scissors  and  blankets.  Since  the  children  of  Corlaer, 
descendants  of  all  the  Vans  that  first  settled  Rens- 
selaerwyck,  were  celebrating  those  far-back  days  and 
wanted  their  presence  "  in  full  feather,"  they  con- 
sented to  come  in  their  richest  garments  of  red,  yel- 
low and  purple,  displaying  besides  all  the  glory  of 
their  Indian  ornaments.  Head  gear  of  turkey 
feathers,  wampum  belts  and  beadwork,  all  their  gaily 
woven  tokens  of  rank  and  treasures  long  laid  by, 
were  brought  to  light  and  worn  for  this  occasion. 
On  Friday  afternoon,  July  18,  1880,  Father  Wal- 
worth, a  member  of  the  reception  committee,  met 
Chief  Joseph  Skye  at  the  Albany  railway  station, 
where  a  vast  crowd  had  gathered.  Seated  beside  the 
Chief  in  a  carriage,  with  both  civic  and  military 
escorts,  and  to  the  sound  of  martial  music  he  drove 
with  him  to  the  City  Hall,  to  be  greeted  by  the 
Mayor.  The  pastor  of  historic  St.  Mary's  was 
just  then  a  proud  and  happy  man.  He  saw  by 
the  way  they  were  received  that  these  Indians 
would  be  a  notable  feature  of  the  week's  celebra- 
tion. He  knew  the  character  of  the  Chief,  and 
was  assured  by  him  that  this  carefullv  selected 
band  of  Catholic  Mohawks  would  bring  no  dis- 
credit on  their  faith  or  their  nation.  The  gracious 
speech  of  the  Mayor  to  Chief  Joseph  Skye  was 
responded  to  in  Iroquois,  and  was  made  known  to 
the  citizens  through  an  interpreter.  Thus  had  that 
same  lingual  and  musical  utterance  —  born  of  the 
murmuring,  rustling  forests  —  been  put  into  Hutch 
for  the  Albany  traders  two  hundred  years  before. 
In  1686,  but  few  beyond  their  teens  had  yet  learned 
to  speak  the  English  of  Governor  Dongan,  the  signer 


290     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

of  the  document  that  made  Peter  Schuyler  Mayor. 
It  made  him  first  in  the  longest  line  of  Mayors 
that  have  upheld  the  chartered  rights  of  any  city 
within  the  bounds  of  the  United  States.  The 
freedom  of  this  ancient  city  was  formally  given  to 
the  Mohawks,  as  to  other  guests,  in  1886,  and 
they  were  escorted  in  procession  to  the  different  city 
gates.  These  were  temporary  structures  erected  to 
recall  the  time  when  the  burghers  protected  them- 
selves with  a  wall  of  stockadoes,  its  openings  being 
few  and  far  between.  This  ceremony  of  throwing 
open  the  gates  of  the  city  so  pleased  the  citizens  at  the 
time  of  the  Bi-Centennial  that  it  has  since  become 
customary  on  joyful  civic  occasions.  The  procession 
of  Indian  guests  with  their  escort  was  formed  at  the 
railway  station  in  the  following  order :  Police,  under 
command  of  Sergeant  Kavanagh,  Albany  City  Band, 
Jackson  Corps,  city  officials  of  the  public  reception 
committee  in  a  carriage,  Mohawk  Indians  afoot, 
Father  Walworth  and  Chief  Joseph  Skye  and  Angus 
George  in  a  carriage;  last,  but  not  least,  in 
picturesque  effect  and  glow  of  colors,  sixteen  squaws 
in  carriages  were  easily  to  be  counted  in  the  slow 
ascent  of  State  street.  They  proceeded  in  line  of 
march  thus  to  the  City  Hall  where  they  entered  the 
Common  Council  Chamber.  Here  the  guests  were 
introduced  to  the  Mayor  by  the  Rector  of  St.  Mary's 
Church.  What  follows  is  from  the  Argus  of  July 
13,  1886: 

Father  Walworth's  Address. 

Mr.  Mayor:  I  have  the  pleasure  of  presenting  to  Your 
Honor  and  to  the  authorities  of  this  city  this  delegation  from 
the  village  of  Caughnawaga  which,  as  you  know,  is  situated 
at  the  great  fall"  near  the  city  of  Montreal.     They  are  what 


A  Citizen  of  No  Mean  City.  291 

we  call  Iroquois,  or  as  they  call  themselves,  Konochioni.  They 
are  mostly  of  Mohawk  blood,  or  to  use  the  name  they  prefer, 
they  are  Kanienga-Kaka  or  the  people  of  the  Flint.  They 
come  here  by  your  invitation  and  at  the  request  of  the 
city  officials  to  partake  of  your  hospitality,  and  I  am  sure 
that  not  only  Your  Honor  and  the  city  authorities,  but  all  the 
ciizens  are  glad  to  see  them  and  extend  to  them  the  hospital- 
ities of  the  city. 

Reply  of  the  Mayor. 

To  these  words  Mayor  Thacher  responded  as  follows: 
Chiefs,  many  moons  ago,  almost  more  than  you  can  count 
with  the  beads  upon  your  wampum  belt,  your  fathers  gave  a 
hospitable  welcome  and  the  hand  of  friendship  to  our  fathers 
as  they  landed  on  these  shores.  It  is  now  our  turn  to  greet 
you  and  give  you  our  welcome.  Then  we  were  few  in  num- 
bers, while  you  were  like  the  leaves  of  the  forest.  Then  we 
were  weak,  while  you  were  strong,  and  with  that  weapon,  the 
tomahawk,  so  dreaded  by  the  whites,  you  could  easily  have 
destroyed  us.  Instead  of  that  you  passed  us  the  pipe  of  peace 
and  bade  us  be  your  friends.  We  can  do  no  less  now  than 
to  call  you  friends,  extend  to  you  the  hospitalities  of  our  city, 
and  assign  you  an  important  part  in  our  festivities.  Chiefs, 
we  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  form  of  government  which  is  as 
peculiar  as  it  is  strong  and  enduring.  It  is  a  single  nation, 
made  up  of  many  States,  bound  together  by  one  indissoluble 
tie.  This  idea  of  a  union  was  foreshadowed  by  your  own  con- 
federation of  the  Five  Nations.  The  truth  that  in  union 
strength  is  found  was  not  taught  you  by  white  men  —  was 
not  revealed  to  you  by  the  men  of  Europe.  Long  before  a 
white  man  visited  these  shores  —  before  this  place  was  settled 
—  the  great  league  of  the  Iroquois  was  established.  What  a 
power  it  made  the  Five  Nations! 

And  what  a  history  you  have  withal!  Your  poet  sings 
your  legendary  myths  and  tells  in  strange  cadence  of  the 
marvellous  bird  which  destroyed  Hiawatha's  only  daughter. 
Your  people  repeat  still  the  national  tale  of  Ta-oun-ye-wa-tha 
and  his  birch-bark  canoe  as  they  floated  down  the  Mohawk 
to  the  Canienga  town;  and  our  people  tell  the  story  —  and 
shall  tell  it  until  virtue  ceases  to  be  interesting  to  our  kind 
and   we   grow  weary   of   constancy  and   truth  —  the   story   of 


292     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Indian  faith  and  fidelity.  Our  ancestors  found  in  your  people 
a  race  with  whom  a  promise  was  kept  with  all  the  exaction 
of  necessity  and  with  whom  constancy  to  a  plighted  word  was 
as  imperative  as  destiny. 

Among  all  the  memories  of  the  past  revived  by  your  visit 
here,  there  is  nothing  more  satisfactory  to  us,  nothing  which 
speaks  more  clearly  of  the  pleasant  relations  which  existed 
between  your  people  and  ours  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  than  the  fact  that  in  all  our  dealing  with  you,  in  all 
our  acquisitions  of  land  we  robbed  you  of  nothing  but  paid 
for  what  we  got,  and  with  the  purchase  we  obtained  what 
gold  and  silver  could  not  buy  and  what  was  of  infinitely  more 
value  to  us,  the  confidence  and  friendship  of  the  Indians. 

Therefore,  your  presence  here  now  and  the  knowledge  that 
you  will  tarry  with  us  during  our  celebration  and  join  with 
us  in  our  ceremonies  is  a  source  of  congratulation  with  our 
people,  and  I  speak  for  all  of  them  when  I  declare  again,  that 
you  are  very,  very  welcome. 

Father  Walworth  then  said:  Mr.  Mayor,  the  Chief.  Joseph 
Skye,  is  desirous  of  making  a  reply  to  Your  Honor  in  the 
Iroquois  tongue.     It  was  interpreted  by  L.  M.  Jocks: 

Speech  of  the  Chief. 

Your  Honor  —  This  gentleman  wishes  to  express  his  thanks 
to  you  for  your  invitation  and  to  assist  as  far  as  he  can  in 
your  arrangements  for  the  celebration.  When  we  arrived  in 
the  city  and  saw  the  people  gathered  around  to  see  us  and 
as  we  witnessed  the  decorations  we  supposed  that  Indians 
and  white  people  are  to  meet  as  friends.  I  now  wish  to  ac- 
commodate you  all  I  can.  Your  Honor,  I  cannot  reply  to  every- 
thing you  have  said,  as  I  do  not  understand  English  as  well 
as  I  do  our  Indian.  As  we  know,  the  State  of  New  York  has 
been  bought  by  your  ancestors,  but  the  money  must  have  been 
received  by  the  Indians  of  St.  Regis  and  other  tribes,  for  the 
Caughnawagas  did  not  get  it.  so  I  must  not  refer  to  this  any 
further,  Your  Honor. 

The  address  was  greeted  with  loud  applause. 

The  Citv  Band  favored  the  audience  with  a  selection  of 
music.  Then  followed  a  song  by  several  of  the  delegation  in 
the  Indian  language. 


A  Citizen  of  No  Mean  City.  293 

After  Father  Walworth  had  presented  the  visitors  indi- 
vidually to  .Mayor  Timelier,  they  were  escorted  to  the  Avenue 
House  on  Washington  avenue,  their  headquarters  dining  their 
stay.* 

[These  Indians  arrived  Saturday  afternoon  and  on  the  next 

y.  Sunday.  Bi-Centennial  week  opened  formally  at  St. 
Mary's  Church  with  a  military  mass,  the  first  of  its  kind  in 
Albany.  The  Jackson  Corps  assisted  in  their  gorgeous  uni- 
forms. The  Indian  choir  occupied  that  part  of  the  sanctuary 
which  extends  in  front  of  the  lady-chapel.  The  front  pews 
were  reserved  for  the  Mayor  and  other  city  officials.  The 
hour  for  this  mass  had  been  finally  agreed  upon  in  a  conver- 
sation by  telephone  between  Mayor  Thacher  at  Albany  and 
Father  Walworth  off  at  Middleburgh  in  the  Schoharie  Valley. 
Thither  he  had  gone  for  a  brief  rest,  and  it  was  there  that  he 
dictated  to  the  writer  of  these  sketches  the  notes  for  his 
Bi-Centennial  sermon.  Before  it  is  here  given  as  reported  at 
the  time  in  the  local  papers,  some  descriptive  details  of  the 
scene  in  Saint  Mary's  Church  on  that  eventful  Bi-Centennial 
Sunday,  gathered  from  the  accounts  of  eye-witnesses,  may  be 
of  interest.  They  will  give  to  the  pastor's  historic  discourse 
its  appropriate  setting.] 

Long  before  the  usual  hour  for  High  Mass,  the  streets  near 
the  old  church  were  thronged  with  a  dense  mass  of  humanity, 
all  eager  to  gain  admission.  Careful  preparations  had  been 
made  for  the  care  of  this  vast  multitude,  so  the  best  of  order 
prevailed  whilst  the  greatest  possible  number  were  admitted 
within  the  building.  Those  possessing  cards  of  admission 
entered  first,  a  squad  of  policemen  looking  after  their  in- 
terests. They  came  early  and  were  comfortably  seated  before 
the  arrival  of  the  officials  and  the  Indians,  who  entered  to  the 
music  of  a  brilliant  march  played  by  the  organist. 


*  Names  of  the  Indian  Party  as  registered  at  the  Avenue  House  : 
Chief  Joseph  Skye,  Francis  Skye,  Mary  Skye,  Chief  Angus 
George,  Joseph  Murray.  Big  Joe,  M.  Peflere,  Jos.  Foster,  Jos. 
Delisle,  Moses  Dealow,  L.  M.  Jocks,  John  Steacy,  Peter  Canton, 
Joseph  Diabow,  Mrs.  Diabow,  Paul  Laronde,  Mrs.  Laronde  and 
Jack,  Miss  Martin,  Miss  Jocks,  Miss  Jacobs,  Miss  Burns,  Mrs. 
Jocks,  Mrs.  Delisle,  Mrs.  Jamieson.  Mrs.  French  and  daughter, 
Mrs.   Diorme,  Mrs.  Marrion,   Mich'l   Larfa,   Mrs.   Garlow. 


294     Life  Sketches  of  Father  "Walworth. 

The  decorations  and  ceremonies  were  well  de- 
scribed by  the  Albany  Express  of  the  next  day  in 
these  words : 

Extending  from  the  porch  arch  was  a  pole  bearing  the 
American  standard.  Upon  entering  the  church  the  first  at- 
tractive feature  that  greeted  the  eye  was  the  grand  altar, 
the  Corinthian  arch  with  its  fluted  columns  reaching  at  least 
twenty  feet  in  height.  At  the  keystone  was  a  spread  eagle 
in  gold  and  a  circle  of  small  American  flags.  Two  immense 
national  flags  were  gracefully  draped  to  either  side  in  the 
form  of  curtains.  About  the  main  floor  were  grouped  the 
distinctive  banners  of  the  various  societies  and  sodalities  of 
the  church.  About  the  galleries  were  American  colors  and 
tri-colored  rosettes.  The  rail  of  the  organ  loft  was  flanked 
by  large  American  flags  and  a  frame  containing  the  munici- 
pal coat  of  arms. 

At  10.30  the  old  bell  that  calls  the  devout  to  worship  rang 
out  its  peal  and  shortly  after,  the  procession  entered  the 
sacred  edifice.  The  order  was  as  follows:  His  Honor  the 
Mayor,  John  Boyd  Thacher,  Committee  of  the  Common  Coun- 
cil, Committee  of  the  Committee  of  Twenty-five,  city  officials, 
Cauglmawaga  Indians,  in  Indian  costume,  boys  singing  "  Holy 
God  We  Praise  Thy  Name,"  Fathers  Lanahan  and  Dillon; 
after  these,  the  crossbearer  and  acolytes,  clergy,  visiting  and 
resident,  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Wadhams  of  Ogdensburgh.  Pre- 
vious to  the  grand  entry  the  Albany  Jackson  Corps,  Major 
Jas.  MacFarlane  commanding,  had  entered  and  presented  arms 
as  the  procession  passed.  After  the  clergy  had  reached  the 
altar  the  military  passed  up  the  middle  aisle  and  formed  in 
front  across  the  church  immediately  behind  the  rails.  The 
Indians  passed  to  the  right  and  occupied  seats  inside  the 
rails  near  the  altar  of  St.  Mary.  Then  was  begun  the  solemn 
grand  pontifical  High  Mass. 

The  following  clergy  officiated:  Celebrant,  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop 
Wadhams ;  assistant  priest,  Very  Rev.  Father  Ludden,  admini- 
strator; deacons  of  honor,  Rev.  Fathers  Burke  and  Duffy; 
deacon  of  the  mass.  Rev.  Father  Kennedy,  of  Syracuse:  sub- 
deacon  of  the  mass,  Rev.  Father  Sherry,  of  Ogdensburgh  dio- 


A  Citizen  of  No  Mean  City.  295 

cese;  masters  of  ceremonies,  Rev.  Fathers  Dillon  and  Lanahan 
of  St.  Mary's.  The  visiting  clergy  were  as  follows:  Albany, 
Rev.  Fathers  Walsh.  Eanlon,  Pidgeon,  Byron,  Burke,  Merns, 
Terry,  Chuciarini,  Toolan,  Peyton;  West  Troy,  Sheehan; 
Johnstown,  McDermott;   Waterville,  McDonald. 

The  sight  that  presented  itself  to  the  eye  was  at  once  im- 
posing and  impressive,  long  to  be  remembered.  The  candelabra 
of  the  sacred  altar,  with  the  radiant  lights,  the  magnificent 
vestments  of  the  priests,  the  barbaric  habiliments  of  the  In- 
dians, the  scarlet  uniforms  of  the  soldiery,  and  the  presence 
of  the  dignitaries  of  the  municipality,  lent  a  significance  and 
importance  to  the  scene  that  carried  with  it  a  sense  of  grand- 
eur and  solemnity  appropriate  to  such  a  momentous  occasion. 
Calmly  proceeded  the  chanting  of  the  Mass  by  the  reverend 
bishop.  During  the  service  the  sweet  voice  of  Father  Kennedy 
fell  upon  the  delighted  ears  of  the  assembled  multitude,  and 
the  soldiery  at  the  appropriate  places  changed  and  rechanged 
the  manual  of  arms. 

Rev.  Father  Walworth  preached  the  sermon.  In  the  sacred 
robes  of  his  office,  and  venerable  in  his  bearing,  this  thor- 
oughly lovable  and  "  grand  old  man "  presented  a  most  im- 
pressive appearance.  Protestants  and  Catholics  alike  looked 
up  to  him  as  one  of  those  men  of  God  who,  by  his  Christian 
life  and  burning  zeal  in  the  cause  of  God  and  man,  had  exem- 
plified all  those  sterling  qualities  that  go  to  make  up  a  con- 
scientious and  perfect  clergyman. 

The  Argus,  of  the  same  date,  continues  thus : 

A  magnificent  musical  programme  was  rendered  during  the 
service  by  the  choir  of  the  church,  under  the  direction  of  Pro- 
fessor Peter  Schneider,  assisted  by  Parlati's  orchestra.  The 
manner  in  which  the  choir  of  sixty  voices  rendered  the  diffi- 
cult music  selected  for  the  occasion  reflected  great  credit  not 
only  upon  them,  but  upon  their  conductor,  Mr.  John  Cassidy, 
and  Professor  Schneider.  The  solo  parts  were  excellently 
sung  by  Mrs.  Peter  Schneider  and  Miss  Lyons,  sopranos;  Miss 
Jennie  T.  Gilligan,  alto;  Mr.  J.  T.  V.  McCrone,  tenor,  and 
Mr.  John  J.  Cassidy,  basso.  At  the  offertory  Hummel's  grand 
"Alma    Virgo,"    soprano    obligato    and   chorus,    was    rendered 


296     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

with  fine  effect.  At  the  elevation  of  the  host,  the  rolling  of 
the  drum  and  sound  of  the  cornet,  blending  with  the  strains 
of  the  organ,  produced  a  most  pleasing  harmony. 

The  Jackson  Corps,  during  the  ceremony,  went  through 
appropriate  evolutions.  At  the  reading  of  the  Gospel  they 
presented  arms,  as  they  did  also  at  the  entrance  of  Father 
Walworth,  and  the  prayer  for  inspiration.  After  the  reading 
of  the  text  they  gave  the  military  salute,  and  at  the  singing 
of  the  Te  Deum  the  corps  uncovered  their  heads.  The  only 
time  when  they  were  seated  was  during  the  sermon,  when 
arms  were  stacked. 


BI-CENTENNIAL    ADDRESS 
By  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth. 

(From  the  Albany  Evening  Journal,  July  19,  1886.) 

"  Remember  the  days  of  old;  consider  all  the  generations. 
Ask  thy  father  and  he  will  show  thee,  thy  elders  and  they 
will  tell  thee."     Deut.  xxxii.  G. 

Consignor,  Very  Rev.  and  Rev.  Fathers,  Gentlemen  of  the 
Magistracy,  the  Common  Council  and  Commonalty  of  Albany, 
Beloved  Brethren  of  the  Laity:  Two  hundred  and  forty-four 
years  ago  was  an  eventful  time  in  the  history  of  Albany,  and 
especially  in  the  religious  history  of  Albany.  In  that  year 
two  remarkable  men  clasped  friendly  hands  just  outside  the 
gate  of  old  Fort  Orange.  The  one  was  clad  in  the  usual 
costume  of  a  gentleman  of  the  period,  the  old-fashioned  three- 
cornered  cocked  hat,  the  ample  vest  and  cut-away  coat,  trunk 
hose  and  silver-buckled  shoes.  The  other  wore  a  tattered 
cassock.  His  face  was  pale  with  signs  of  recent  suffering. 
He  had  lost  several  fingers,  which  had  been  bitten  off  from 
his  hands  in  captivity.  He  was  still  a  captive  and  carefully 
watched  bv  his  Indian  tormentors.  The  first  of  these  two  men 
was  the  celebrated  Dominie  Megapolensis,  the  first  minister 
of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  Albany,  who  had  just  ar- 
rived from  Holland.  The  other  was  the  noble  martyr  of  the 
Catholic    Church,    Father    Isaac    dogues,   a   Jesuit    missionary 


REV.     C.    A.    WALWORTH.     L.L.D. 


A  Citizen  of  Xo  Mean  City.  297 

whom  the  Indians  had  brought  with  them  a  captive  from  the 
bloody  terrace  of  Ossernenon.  There  several  of  his  com- 
panions lay  bathed  in  their  blood,  and  amongst  them  that 
lovely  Christian  saint  and  first  martyr  of  the  mission,  the 
young  Rene  Goupil.  Would  you  like  to  see  the  spot  where 
they  suffered?  It  lies  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  junction  of 
the  Schoharie  creek  with  the  Mohawk  river.  You  have  only 
to  take  the  cars  on  the  West  Shore  Railroad,  stop  at  the  sta- 
tion of  Auriesville  and  mount  the  hill  just  behind  it.  The 
field  was  bought  last  year  by  the  Society  of  Jesus.  A  rude 
oratory  stands  there  now,  surmounted  by  a  cross. 

I  trust  that  before  long  we  shall  see  there  a  convent  and  a 
convent  church.  At  the  time  we  speak  of  the  severed  fingers 
of  Father  Jogues  lay  mingled  with  its  dust.  Four  years 
later  when  he  returned  to  the  bloody  field  of  his  mission  the 
savage  Mohawks  took  his  life  also.  His  head,  severed  from 
the  body,  was  mounted  upon  one  of  the  palisades  of  the 
Indian  fort  or  castle,  and  made  to  face  northward  toward 
Canada,  from  which  he  came.  His  body  was  thrown  into  the 
Mohawk  and  wafted  on  by  the  stream  toward  Albany.  We 
shall  never  find  it  on  earth,  but  I  trust  that  many  of  us  will 
see  it  again  in  the  glory  of  Heaven. 

But  let  us  return  to  the  gate  of  Fort  Orange  and  to  the 
door  of  Dominie  Megapolensis,  where  he  and  his  Jesuit  friend 
are  clasping  hands  together  and  speaking  together  in  the 
Latin  tongue.  Both  were  learned  men,  both  were  good  men, 
and  both  were  friendly  one  to  the  other. 

These  two  clergymen,  both  Christians,  but  representing  be- 
liefs and  worships  widely  differing,  came  here  the  same 
year  and  established  themselves  in  the  Mohawk  country.  The 
one  followed  trade  hither,  the  other  came  before  trade. 
Neither  stayed  here  long;  the  one  retired  soon  to  New  York 
city,  the  other  retired  soon  to  eternity.  But  this  is  the  moral 
to  which  I  wish  to  bring  your  minds:  When  those  two  good 
men  joined  hands,  there  was  no  bigotry  in  that  grasp.  There 
was  great  variance  in  their  faith.  Each  one  held  strong  con- 
victions which  neither  one  would  have  consented  to  part  with 
even  to  please  the  best  friend  on  earth.  As  they  differed 
from  each  other  in  these  convictions,  both  could  not  be  in  all 
things  right.     There  may  have  existed  prejudice  in  one  mind 


298     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

or  the  other.  But  adherence  to  truth  is  not  bigotry;  adher- 
ence to  error  is  not  bigotry;  prejudice  is  not  bigotry.  Bigotry 
is  something  more  than  a  firm  judgment  or  a  false  judgment. 
It  is  a  dark,  gloomy  and  evil  passion  in  the  heart,  which  can 
find  no  charity  for  those  who  differ  from  us,  which  can  con- 
ceive no  good  motive  in  those  who  oppose  us,  which  is  always 
ready  to  believe  a  lie  when  applied  to  those  who  do  not  agree 
with  us.  When  we  see  these  two  great  and  good  men  clasp- 
ing hands  together,  so  strongly  differing  in  religious  convic- 
tions, but  so  full  of  mutual  love  and  sympathy,  it  is  both 
beautiful  and  sublime.    Let  us  all  lay  it  well  to  heart. 

It  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  remember  that,  just  forty  year3 
later,  as  if  in  return  for  the  charity  and  hospitality  given  by 
Albany  to  this  suffering  Catholic  captive,  a  Catholic  king  in 
England  and  a  Catholic  governor  of  New  York  gave  to  Albany 
that  happy  parchment  which  made  it  a  chartered  city. 

The  first  French  colony  was  established  at  Quebec  in  1608. 
The  city  of  Montreal  was  at  first  only  a  hospital  founded  in 
the  wilderness  by  the  Soeurs  Hospitalieres.  Its  stockade  was 
building  at  the  time  when  Father  Jogues  and  his  companions 
were  captured  near  by  and  brought  to  the  Mohawk  Valley, 
namely,  in  the  year  1642.  That  same  year,  as  I  have  already 
said,  its  first  Dutch  minister  arrived  in  Albany  from  Holland. 

Another  Catholic  missionary,  Father  Bressani,  following  in 
the  footsteps  of  Father  Jogues,  was  horribly  tortured  by  the 
same  Indians,  and  passed  through  Albany  in  1644.  Father 
Jogues  returned  with  his  mutilated  fingers  to  the  Mohawks 
in  1646,  and  was  then  and  there  martyred.  Father  Poncet, 
Father  Le  Moyne,  Fathers  Fremin,  Bruyas  and  Pierron,  all 
passed  through  Albany  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  Indian 
castles  on  the  Mohawk,  a  ground  then  already  known  as  "  The 
Mission  of  Martyrs."  As  early  as  1667  a  permanent  chapel 
was  established  at  Tionnontogen,  now  Sprakers  Basin,  and 
bore  the  name  of  St.  Marv's.  We  find  another  existing  at  the 
sand  flats  near  Fonda,  called  St.  Peter's,  as  early  at  least  as 
1669,  under  the  care  of  Father  Boniface.  Here,  in  1676,  the 
holy  Indian  maiden,  Tegakwita,  was  baptised  by  Father  James 
de  Lamberville.  In  that  year  and  about  the  same  time,  the 
famous  Indian  warrior  Kryn,  "  Conquerer  of  the  Delawares," 
led  a  large  band  of  converts  to  the  new  Caughnawaga,  already 


A  Citizen  of  ISTo  Mean  City.  299 

established  at  the  great  fall  near  Montreal.  That  Catholic 
colony  exists  there  still  —  you  see  its  representatives  before 
you.  This  was  an  eventful  period  for  the  Catholic-  faith  in 
the  State  of  New  York.  Missions  and  mission  chapels  were 
erected  among  all  the  five  nations  of  the  Iroquois.  Numerous 
conversions  were  made,  and,  also,  many  martyrs  suffered,  both 
Frenchmen  and  Indian  converts.  This  glorious  period  lasted 
from  1642  to  1(584.  The  suppression  of  the  missions  was 
brought  about,  I  grieve  to  say,  not  so  much  by  the  animosity 
of  the  savages  against  the  faith  as  by  the  deadly  spirit  of 
covetous  trade.  Religion  has  no  enemy  more  powerful  or 
more  cruel  than  the  lust  for  money.  The  Holland  Dutch 
of  Albany  and  New  York  on  the  one  side  and  the  French  of 
Canada  on  the  other  struggled  together  to  secure  the  trade 
in  Indian  furs,  and  the  work  of  the  missionaries  who  sought 
to  secure  souls  for  God  was  crushed  between  the  two.  And  I 
am,  furthermore,  sorry  to  say  that  a  Catholic  governor  of 
New  York  and  a  Catholic  governor  of  Canada  were  the  prin- 
cipal agents  in  this  unholy  work  of  destruction.  There  are 
ambitious  Catholic  politicians  of  our  day  equally  unworthy 
of  the  name  they  bear,  engaged  in  work  as  unholy  and  as 
mischievous  to  their  religion.  They  might  learn  a  lesson  by 
studying  that  weakly  Christianity  which  flickered  in  the  souls 
of  Dongan  and  DeNonville. 

Few  know  the  large  number  of  Indian  converts  brought  into 
the  faith  and  of  martyrs  dying  for  the  faith  during  this 
eventful  period.  However,  let  it  be  distinctly  understood  and 
well  remembered  that  the  work  of  these  missionaries  did  not 
perish.  Let  those  who  think  so  visit  the  present  Indian 
reservation  at  Caughnawaga,  about  twenty  miles  from  Mon- 
treal. There  a  population  of  thirteen  hundred,  all  Catholic 
Indians,  mostly  of  Mohawk  blood,  still  reside,  and  attend 
mass  at  their  ancient  Catholic  church.  Some  of  them  you  see 
here  to-day.  The  priest  who  is  their  chaplain  occupies  the 
same  apartments  once  occupied  by  Charlevoix,  the  historian 
of  New  France,  who  lived  at  that  early  period  and  was  com- 
panion of  the  missionaries  that  we  have  named.  Other  vil- 
lages of  the  same  character  are  also  found  in  Canada.  Does 
this  look  like  wasted  work? 


o 


00     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 


Let  us  now  pass  over  a  period  of  one  more  century.  In 
16S4,  Father  Jean  de  Lamberville,  the  last  of  that  devoted 
band  of  Catholic  missionaries,  whose  fruitful  labor  among  the 
Indian  tribes  of  New  York  we  have  so  briefly  catalogued,  de- 
parted for  Canada  amidst  the  regrets  and  lamentations  of  the 
Onondaga  chiefs,  who  escorted  him  in  safety  to  their  borders. 
It  was  French  treachery  that  made  his  departure  necessary, 
but  the  Onondaga  sages  knew  that  the  good  man  had  no  share 
in  it.  In  1784  no  trace  was  left  of  the  rude  chapels  which 
had  been  erected  among  the  Indians  of  New  York  in  the 
previous  century.  There  were  Catholics  among  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Albany,  but  without  a  church.  Now  and  then  the 
occasional  visit  of  a  priest  enabled  them  to  kneel  at  the  holy 
sacrifice,  celebrated  in  its  simplest  form  in  some  private 
dwelling-house.  Their  increasing  numbers  soon  made  it  neces- 
sary to  erect  a  church  and  have  a  permanent  priest.  In  1796 
a  meeting  of  these  was  held  in  the  house  of  James  Robichaud 
and  the  Catholics  of  Albany  were  formally  incorporated  into 
a  parish,  as  appears  by  the  records  in  the  office  of  our 
county  clerk.  The  children  of  these  founders  may  still  be 
pointed  out  among  the  worshippers  of  St.  Mary's  and  the 
other  churches  of  Albany.  In  1797  the  corner-stone  of  a 
church  was  laid  and  in  1798  the  building  was  completed.  The 
old  inscription  stones  commemorating  these  events  are  still 
preserved  in  the  walls  of  this  present  edifice,  and  the  inscrip- 
tions are  as  legible  as  ever.  The  red  seed  which  fell  upon  the 
soil  of  Albany  from  the  mutilated  fingers  of  Father  Jogues 
sprouted  again  150  years  later,  and  this  parish  of  St.  Mary's 
still  remains  the  earliest  tree.  Here  still  it  stands,  the 
central  point  of  a  stately  grove,  which  extends  over  the  whole 
country  formerly  covered  by  Iroquois  lodges  and  the  camps 
of  their  hunting  grounds.  Long  may  that  noble  old  tree 
flourish,  its  branches  far  extended  and  its  trunk  deep  rooted 
in  the  soil.  Long  may  her  people  gather  to  worship  at  this 
shrine,  earnest  in  their  faith,  devout  in  their  worship,  abound- 
ing in  good  works,  gentle  in  their  bearing  toward  all,  but 
never  tame  to  surrender  that  glory  which  belongs  to  their  God. 


A  Citizen  ok  No  Mean  City.  301 

Another  leap  of  fifty  years  brings  us  to  another  memorable 
period.  In  1846  Albany  was  erected  into  an  Episcopal  see; 
St.  Mary's  became  a  cathedral  church,  presided  over  by  the 
Rt.  Rev.  John  McCloskey,  afterward  known  as  Cardinal 
McCloskey,  first  ecclesiastic  raised  to  that  dignity  on  this 
continent.  Tokens  of  that  cathedral  building  and  of  Cardinal 
McCloskey's  ministration  in  it  may  still  be  seen  in  the  base- 
ment chapel,  underneath  this  floor.  There  is  the  same  altar 
at  which  he  officiated,  with  its  altar  stone,  the  same  taber- 
nacle, the  same  candlesticks,  so  familiar  to  bis  eyes.  We 
have  here  present  a  witness  to  all  this  in  the  beloved  and 
venerable  prelate  who  officiates  this  morning.  You  know  him 
well.  He  was  your  pastor  in  the  days  I  speak  of.  It  is  but 
a  little  while  ago  that  the  good  cardinal  departed  to  his 
reward.    Reqiiiescat  in  pace. 

A  shorter  transit  now  brings  us  to  a  period  in  the  history 
of  St.  Mary's  crowded  with  memorable  events  of  which  we 
are  nearly  all  of  us  witnesses.  In  the  spring  of  the  year 
1867,  an  arduous  task  became  necessary  and  was  begun.  The 
second  St.  Mary's,  erected  in  1828,  a  building  prematurely  old 
and  ready  to  fall,  was  taken  down  and  the  building  of  this 
present  church  commenced.  The  charge  of  superintending  this 
arduous  task  fell  upon  a  man  who  was  also  broken  by  labors 
and  prematurely  old.  Only  one  thing  could  make  his  task 
possible,  and  that  was  the  love,  confidence  and  the  generosity 
of  St.  Mary's  congregation.  If  this  new  and  last  church  has 
been  completed,  or  nearly  so,  it  is  because  that  love,  that  con- 
fidence and  that  generosity  have  never  failed.  Glad  am  I  on 
an  occasion  so  memorable  as  this,  in  the  presence  of  so  many 
strangers,  assembled  in  dear  old  St.  Mary's,  to  offer  this 
tribute  to  you,  my  dear  brethren,  who  have  stood  by  me 
during  the  past  twenty  years  so  faithful  and  so  strong. 

And  now  let  me  be  silent  and  let  this  present  spectacle 
speak.  What  is  it  we  see  before  us  to-day?  What  does  this 
temple  say?  What  voices  come  to  us  from  its  pillars  and  its 
arches,  from  its  organ  and  its  altar,  and  from  this  unusual 
concourse  of  worshippers?  Here  are  chiefs  and  braves  and 
women  representatives  of  the  Kanienga-haka,  and  other  Iro- 
quois who  once  peopled  these  valleys  and  hills,  which  to-day 


302     Life   Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

we  occupy.  Although  now  Christians  and  Catholics,  they 
may  be  taken  to  represent  that  heathenism  and  darkness  of 
superstition  which  once  reigned  here.  But  now  they  are  one 
with  us,  in  the  same  holy  faith,  and  the  same  great  hopes  for 
eternity.  They  have  among  them  those  who  know  how  to 
chant  the  same  solemn  canticles  of  the  church  in  honor  of  the 
same  Lord  and  Saviour.  Welcome,  dear  brothers  of  the 
Konochioni!  Your  fathers  were  once  our  most  dangerous  foes. 
We  hail  you  now  as  among  our  dearest  friends!  Welcome  to 
our  city;  welcome  to  our  church.  That  faithful  martyr,  Tsaac 
Jogues,  is  father  to  you  and  father  to  us.  Young  Rene 
Goupil,  whose  undiscovered  body  still  lies  in  the  bed  of  the 
torrent  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  of  Ossernenon,  is  brother  to  us 
all,  and  Catherine  Tegakwita,  the  sweet  Lily  of  the  Mohawks, 
is  our  little  sister. 

What  unaccustomed  faces  are  these  that  occupy  this  morn- 
ing so  many  of  our  front  pews?     They  are   something  more 
than  fellow  citizens.      They  are   the  civil   authorities   of  our 
citv.      Thev  have  come  here  on  this  Bi-Centennial  Sunday  to 
recognize  God  and  honor  religion.     They  have  come  here  ex- 
pressly and  publicly  to  acknowledge  that  all  authority  upon 
earth    rests  upon  the   higher   authority   of   Heaven,   and   that 
Albany,    ancient   Albany,    is   a   religious   and    Christian  city. 
They,  too,  are  heartily  welcome.     And  who  are  these  that  we 
have  seen  standing  in  our  midst  in  military  attire,  with  their 
arms   in   their   hands,   and   helmeted   like   soldiers    ready   for 
action?     They,  together  with  the  chiefs  and  patrolmen  of  the 
police  represent  law.  order  and  obedience  to  duty;   and,  that 
the  truest  love  of  country  is  that  which  has  its  source  in  the 
love  of  God.     They,  too,  are  welcome.     And  now  let  us  turn 
our   thoughts   directly  to  the  altar.     It  represents  to  us  the 
authority  of  God,  the  claims  of  God,  God's  protection,  God's 
love,   God's  mercy,  the   foundation   of  all   our  hopes   in   God. 
O  may  the  dear  Son  of  God,  who  shed  His  blood  for  us  upon 
the  cross,  give  His  blessing  now  to  our  beloved  country;   to 
the  State  of  New  York,  to  the  city  of  Albany,  to  the  parish 
of  St.  Mary's;   inflame  our  hearts  with  the  deepest  gratitude 
for  His  past  favors  and  with  well-founded  hopes  of  His  future 
protection  and   of  final   salvation. 


A  Citizen  of  No  Mean  City.  303 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  mass  Father  Walworth 
announced  that  the  Te  Deum  would  be  snug  in  Eng- 
lish in  thanksgiving  for  the  blessings  bestowed 
on  the  city  during  its  two  hundred  years  of  existence, 
lie  stood  on  the  platform  of  the  altar  and  in  a  com- 
manding tone  with  a  telling  gesture,  he  lifted  both 
arms  as  he  said:  "  In  token  of  your  gratitude  to  God 
during  the  singing  of  this  hymn,  let  all  stand,  and  all 
sing/'  The  grand  old  hymn  sung  by  the  entire 
multitude  rang  through  the  building  in  loudest  tones, 
led  by  the  organ  and  orchestra.  The  multitude 
then  withdrew  and  Albany's  first  military  mass  was 
over. 

The  Bi-Centennial  celebration  throughout  the  en- 
tire week  in  its  many  manifestations,  as  in  its 
opening  hours  just  depicted,  was  a  very  successful 
municipal  event  well  worth  the  study  of  less  ancient 
cities  and  towns.  It  stimulated  public  spirit  and 
the  study  of  local  history  as  well  as  a  wholesome 
love  of  God,  home  and  country.  The  public  asking 
of  Heaven's  blessing  on  the  city  by  each  and  all 
Christian  denominations,  and  the  sublime  chanting 
of  Thanksgiving  anthems  on  Sunday  for  two  hun- 
dred years  of  civic  rights  and  privileges,  doubtless 
had  its  effect  through  the  entire  week.  The  ribaldry 
and  debauchery  that  have  marred  other  municipal 
celebrations,  here  and  there,  that  were  less  wisely 
planned  and  conducted  were  on  this  occasion  held 
in  check  by  a  prevailing  sentiment  of  cheerful  grati- 
tude and  honest  pride. 

Only  a  few  notable  results  of  the  celebration  can 
here  be  touched  upon.  One  was  the  marking  with 
bronze  tablets  of  so  many  historic   sites   about  the 


304     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walwobtii. 

city  that  little  was  left  to  be  done  in  that  way  by 
the  numerous  patriotic  societies  that  sprang  into  ex- 
istence toward  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century 
Another  result  was  the  growth  and  equipment  of  the 
Albany  Historical  and  Art  Society.  Another  was  a 
remarkable  Historical  Pageant  at  Harmanus 
Bleecker  Hall  during  the  week  beginning  December 
3,  1894,  in  which  the  whole  city  participated 
and  lived  over  again,  in  costume,  by  means  of  living 
pictures,  its  long  and  eventful  history.  The  Eev. 
W.  W.  Battershall,  D.  D.,  has  well  described  it  in 
these  few  words:  "It  was  a  unique  entertainment  in 
its  most  characteristic  features,  the  tableaux  from 
local  colonial  history,  possible  only  in  this  ancient 
town."  The  profits  of  it  went  to  the  Historical  and 
Art  Society.  Even  the  printed  program  of  this 
pageant  entitled  "  The  History  of  Albany  in  Ten 
Acts,"  from  the  press  of  the  Brandow  Printing  Com- 
pany, 1894,  is  a  pamphlet  well  worth  preserving  for 
its  historic  data  and  the  thoughts  suggested  bv  the 
very  grouping  of  its  lists  of  citizens. 

If  Father  Walworth  was  interested  in  Albany's 
history,  how  much  more  so  in  her  moral  welfare! 
If  the  proper  observance  of  Bi-Centennial  Sunday 
was  near  to  his  heart,  so  was  the  observance  of  every 
other  Sunday.  We  have  become  familiar  with  his 
strivings  against  the  encroachments  of  liquor  dealers 
in  their  monev-making  efforts  to  do  away  with  the 
rest  and  peace  of  the  law-abiding  American  Sunday 
bequeathed  to  us  with  our  liberties.  It  is,  indeed,  a 
golden  inheritance  closelv  linked  with  "  The  Golden 
Pule  "  that  lies  at  the  foundation  of  our  political 
constitution.      Thoughtful   citizens    who    studv    the 


A  Citizen  of  Xo  Mean  City.  305 

times  very  generally  agree  that  even  the  worst  of  the 
narrow  old  provincial  "  blue  laws,"  so  often  laughed 
at,  were  less  of  a  menace  to  the  white  light  of  free- 
dom than  the  new  "  red  flags  "  and  rags  of  anarchy 
that  flaunt  in  the  breezes  of  to-day.  To  give  undue 
prominence  to  either  of  these  fiercely  painted  errors 
is  to  read  our  flag  backward  and  turn  into  jargon  the 
beautiful  meaning  of  our  motto :  '  E  Pluribus 
Unum." 

One  day  Father  Walworth  was  looking  from  his 
window  at  the  corner  of  Steuben  and  Chapel  streets. 
It  was  Sundav  morning.  Crowds  from  the  7  and  8 
o'clock  Masses  had  scattered  as  usual  to  their  homes, 
and  the  tide  of  approaching  footsteps  had  not  yet  set 
in  toward  the  open  doorway  of  St.  Mary's  for  the 
High  Mass,  with  its  sermon. 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  that  locality 
he  saw  a  bevy  of  workmen  with  overalls  and  tools 
ripping  up  the  main  pavement  of  the  street  and  lay- 
ing out  work  for  a  day's  job.  Enough  had  already 
been  done  to  show  that  the  Catholics  among  them  had 
no  time  for  Mass  before  donning  their  work-a-day 
clothes.  The  scandal  they  would  give  to  others,  old 
and  young,  who  would  soon  pass  them  stirred  the 
pastor  to  instant  and  observant  activity.  Others  in 
the  room  were  called  to  the  window  and  questioned 
to  make  sure  of  what  was  going  on.  As  a  lawyer, 
duly  admitted  to  the  Bar,  he  knew  the  ordinances  of 
the  city  and  State.  His  family  motto  was :  "  Strike 
for  the  Laws." 

His  duty  as  priest  and  citizen  was  clear  to  his 
mind,  as  clear  as  the  broad  light  of  day  in  which  the 
unwelcome  scene  occurred. 


306     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

"  Come,  my  amanuensis,"  said  he,  "  there  is  not  a 
moment  to  lose.    This  can  be  and  it  shall  be  stopped. 
I  know  the  Mayor  and  he  knows  the  Law.     He  will 
not  stand  for  this  before  the  people  of  Albany.     I 
will  send  him  a  note."    We  mounted  a  flight  of  stairs 
and  seated  ourselves,  he  in  his  brown  wicker  rock- 
ing chair  and  I  at  my  leather-top  table,  pen  in  hand. 
"  Write,  scrivener,  write,"  said  he  sharply,  adding 
a  few  courteous  opening  words,  slowly  and  distinctly 
uttered.     In  less  time  than  it  can  be  recorded  here, 
that  note  was  sent  on  its  way  to  Mayor  Thacher's 
door  in  Hawk  street.     For  Albanians,  it  is  needless 
to  write  that  the  police  were  at  once  notified  by  that 
public-spirited  gentleman  to  enforce  the  law  against 
work  on  the  Lord's  Day.     As  St.  Mary's  congrega- 
tion issued  from  the  late  Mass,  they  found  Steuben 
street  quiet  and  peaceful  as  usual  on  Sundays.     All 
click  of  tool  and  thud  of  stone  was  hushed.    The  for- 
lorn,  the  shame-faced  or  hard-featured  toilers  who 
had   set  to   work   in   the   interest   of   a    strong   cor- 
poration had  vanished  like  a  dream  of  the  night- 
time.    In  this,  our  land  of  liberty,  is  not  an  ounce 
of  prevention  still  worth  a  pound  of  cure?     Where 
Church  and  State  can  stand  separate  and  thus  clasp 
hands,   the  makers  of  mischief  must  needs   dodge. 
Long  live  all  such  Mayors,  and  such  Pastors! 

That  the  above  was  not  a  solitary  instance  of 
mutual  action  to  uphold  the  moral  welfare  of  the 
community  is  evidenced  bv  the  following  lines  se- 
lected  from  a  file  of  correspondence  for  1896: 


A  Citizen  of  No  Mean  City.  307 

Mayor  Thachcr  to  Rev.  C.  A.  Walworth: 

5  South  Hawk  St.,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

Dear  Father  Walworth  —  The  workmen  have  been 
stopped  on  State  street.  It  seems  that  the  railroad  got  per- 
mission yesterday  from  the  Street  Commissioner. 

I  trust  this  will  not  occur  again  and  I  thank  you  for  call- 
ing my  attention  to  it. 

Yours, 

JOHN  BOYD  THACHER. 
April   12,  1896. 

It  has  not  been  deemed  necessary  to  ask  permission 
to  insert  these  few  lines,  so  creditable  alike  to  the 
writer  and  the  recipient. 

No  question  that  concerned  the  welfare  of  his  fel- 
low citzens  was  indifferent  to  Father  Walworth.  He 
made  his  opinion  felt  on  such  subjects  of  municipal 
concern  as  the  location  of  parks,  boulevards,  the  pub- 
lic market,  rapid  transit  and  the  choosing  of  pub- 
lic speakers.  He  argued,  too,  in  matters  of  State 
concern,  such  as  the  protection  of  the  Adirondack 
Forest  Preserve,  suitable  enactments  for  Indian 
Reservations  and  the  Limitation  of  Suffrage.  He  ad- 
dressed, on  the  last-named  subject,  the  Suffrage  Com- 
mittee of  the  Constitutional  Convention  on  July  10, 
1894,  at  4  p.  m.,  in  the  Assembly  Parlor.  Those 
interested  to  follow  his  thoughtful  argument  at  that 
time  and  place,  made  in  the  hope  of  checking  the 
ever  increasing  flood  of  undesirable  immigration, 
will  find  it  in  the  files  of  the  Albany  Sunday  Press, 
under  date  of  July  15,  1894.  A  very  excellent  re- 
port of  it  is  there  given,  entitled,  "  MUCH  PLAIN 
TRUTHS;  Limitation  of  Voting  in  New  York 
by  Constitutional  Amendment;  Immigration  and 
Naturalization." 


308     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

The  previous  extracts  from  other  local  papers  have 
shown  how  well  and  effectively  Father  Walworth 
knew  how  to  stand  up  for  his  rights  as  an  American 
citizen  and  so,  to  teach  others,  hy  example,  the  same 
lesson.  He  visited,  in  person,  a  number  of  his 
neighbors  and  obtained  their  signatures  to  other  pro- 
tests and  petitions  besides  the  ones  given,  to  which 
action  he  was  prompt  to  add  timely  and  vigorous 
words  from  his  pulpit.  The  extracts  themselves 
sufficiently  explain  their  occasion,  and  the  quiet  that 
still  holds  sway  near  the  old  church  is  the  result  of 
his  alertness  when  danger  threatened  in  1889. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  1891,  an  earnest  remonstrance 
was  read  from  the  pulpit  of  St.  Mary's;  this 
time,  against  the  laying  of  tracks  on  Pine  and 
Chapel  streets.  It  was  signed  by  the  property-owners 
on  those  streets  and  was  duly  put  on  record,  "  to  pre- 
vent any  such  surprises  as  attended  the  action  of  the 
Common  Council  in  regard  to  the  Steuben  street 
tracks."  The  old  church  had  too  many  friends  in 
Albany,  as  was  well  proved  at  that  time  by  her  ener- 
getic pastor,  to  make  it  worth  while  to  attempt  any 
further  laying  of  railway  tracks  to  the  damage  of  her 
seclusion  or  the  peace  of  religious  worship  in  her 
neighborhood. 

It  was  before  this  last  episode  and  not  long  after 
the  great  Bi-Centennial  Celebration  that  Father 
Walworth  received  a  large  envelope  from  Washington 
marked  "  Executive  Mansion"  and  stamped  with  the 
seal  of  the  President  on  red  wax.  Within  was  a 
thanksgiving  proclamation  in  the  handwriting  of 
Grover  Cleveland,  the  onq  he  had  written  for  that 
same  year,   1886.     It  came  as  a  friendly  souvenir 


A  Citizen  of  Ko  Mean  City.  309 

from  a  successful  statesman  to  a  thoughtful  citizen, 
and  it  betokened  that  he  had  not  forgotten  helpful 
intercourse  with  him  in  former  days. 

Father  Walworth's  views  on  public  questions  had 
interested  Mr.  Cleveland  more  than  once  whilst  he 
was  occupying  the  Governor's  chair  at  Albany.  It 
was  his  own  autographic  copy  of  the  document  with 
which  he  so  pleasantly  surprised  him  on  this  occa- 
sion. As  a  graceful  compliment  to  patriotism  and 
public  spirit  in  a  clergyman,  it  was  surely  well 
chosen.     It  was  thus  worded: 

A  PROCLAMATION 

BY    THE     PRESIDENT    OF     THE    UNITED     STATES. 

It  has  long  been  the  custom  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  on  a  day  in  each  year  especially  set  apart  for  that 
purpose  by  their  Chief  Executive,  to  acknowledge  the  goodness 
and  mercy  of  God  and  to  invoke  his  continued  care  and  pro- 
tection. 

In  observance  of  which  custom  I,  Grover  Cleveland,  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  do  hereby  designate  and  set  apart 
Thursday,  the  25th  day  of  November  instant,  to  be  observed 
and  kept  as  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  and  Prayer. 

On  that  day  let  all  our  people  forego  their  accustomed  em- 
ployments, and  assemble  in  their  usual  places  of  worship  to 
give  thanks  to  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe  for  our  continued 
enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  a  free  government,  for  a  renewal 
of  business  prosperity  throughout  our  Land,  for  the  return 
which  has  rewarded  the  labor  of  those  who  till  the  soil,  and 
for  our  progress  as  a  people  in  all  that  makes  a  Nation  great. 

And  while  we  contemplate  the  infinite  power  of  God  in 
earthquake,  flood  and  storm,  let  the  grateful  hearts  of  those 
who  have  been  shielded  from  harm  through  His  mercy  be  turned 
in  sympathy  and  kindness  toward  those  who  have  suffered 
through  His  visitations. 

Let  us  also  in  the  midst  of  our  thanksgiving  remember  the 
poor    and   needy   with   cheerful   gifts   and   alms,   so   that   our 


310     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

service  may,  by  deeds  of  charity,  be  made  acceptable  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and 
caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  City  of  Washington  this  First  day  of  November, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
eighty-six,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  the  one  hundred  and  eleventh. 

GROVER  CLEVELAND. 
By  the  President. 

T.  F.  Bayard, 

Secretary  of  State. 


XIV. 

NEARLY    BLIND. 

Hymns  and  Meditations — Evenings  with  his  Nieces — 
Authorship  —  Scott,  Cooper,  and  the  Gene- 
alogy —  Sunset  of  a  Busy  Life  —  His 
"  Cloister  of  the  Senses." 

Threescore  years  and  ten  had  passed  over  Father 
Walworth's  head.  The  afternoon  sun  was  declining. 
Could  there  be  work  still  ahead  %  Was  there  a  lesson 
of  endurance  still  to  be  learned  ?  Yes ;  three  of  his 
books  were  vet  to  be  dictated,  corrected  and  pub- 
lished; many  wise  and  witty  words  still  to  be  ut- 
tered; many  gentle  deeds  of  charity  still  to  be  done. 
God  was  preparing  for  him  a  cloister  of  the  senses, 
in  which  to  draw  yet  closer  to  Him.  This  man  of 
many  thoughts  and  much  vigor  was  to  be  penned 
within  narrow  bounds.  Little  by  little,  the  great 
world  of  action  must  slip  from  him.  And  then, 
after  a  long  night  of  privation  and  pain,  his  soul, 
freed  at  last,  would  itself  slip  quietly  from  all  earthly 
moorings.  On  the  wings  of  the  morning,  in  the 
silent  dawn  of  Light  Eternal,  it  would  speed  swiftly 
away  to  its  long-sought  haven. 

What  more  endearing  than  to  say :  "  I  have  loved 
thee  as  the  apple  of  my  eye ! '  Did  not  the  Re- 
deemer of  men  thus  love  this  chosen  one  who  had 
spent  half  a  century  in  winning  souls  to  His  service 
in  a  thousand  different  wavs?     And  now  for  awhile 


312     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walwoeth. 

He  would  draw  a  curtain  over  his  outward  sight,  He 
would  turn  the  ever-leaping  thoughts  of  His  priest 
inward  to  contemplation,  as  never  before.  The  fruit- 
ful intellect  hampered  by  impaired  vision  would 
soon  find  new  vents  through  rhythmic  meditations, 
new  tasks  begotten  of  its  own  far  distant  recollections, 
and  even  new  circles  of  intercourse  with  living  men. 
These  last  proved  to  be  wider  than  all  bounds  of 
neighborhood ;  they  reached  far  as  the  mails  would 
carry,  far  as  the  printed  page  could  drift,  Happy 
were  the  eyes  and  the  hands  of  the  amanuensis  des- 
tined  to  the  service  of  such  thoughts  as  his!  If  to 
be  with  him  was  to  live  almost  the  life  of  a  hermit 
as  to  social  gatherings,  it  was  none  the  less  to  share  a 
hermitage  high  on  the  cliffs  of  human  aspiration.  It 
was  to  live  close  to  the  nest  of  the  liberty-loving 
eagle,  close  to  the  rainbow  of  hope,  close  to  the  silent 
stars,  "  forget-me-nots  of  the  angels."  It  was  to 
share  the  breathings  of  a  soul  like  unto  the  snow- 
white  peak  of  the  Yung-Frau  in  its  sublimity.  Last, 
but  not  least,  it  meant  an  abode  ever  close  to  the 
golden  door  of  the  altar  where  lies  hidden  the  manna 
of  souls,  the  thorn-crowned  Prisoner  of  the  Euchar- 
ist. "  How  lovely  are  Thy  tabernacles,  O  Lord  of 
Hosts !  " 

Ten  years  at  the  beck  and  call  of  God's  priest 
were  not  too  much  in  the  light  of  surging  memories 
that  come  back.  When  time,  with  his  gentle  but 
persistent  touch,  has  brushed  away  countless  hum- 
drum details,  we  are  better  able  to  reckon  the  true 
values  of  our  days.  Who  can  see  in  its  right  pro- 
portions the  mountain  just  quitted?  A  certain  dis- 
tance must  intervene  to  bring  out  once  more  a  clear- 


Nearly  Blind.  313 

cut  profile.  Thus  the  writer  of  these  lines,  like  a 
traveler  who  ha*  reached  the  level  country,  but 
wishes  to  bear  away  deep-graven  memories  of  a 
mountain  trip,  pauses,  turns  and  looks  backward. 
A  towering  summit  shows  its  peak  against  the  sky. 
A  few  hasty  strokes  serve  to  sketch  it  in  lovingly, 
boldly.  Thus  will  the  last  decade  of  a  lofty  life, 
the  one  she  was  fortunate  enough  to  share  as  a  fire- 
side companion  in  the  very  household  of  Father  Wal- 
worth, be  briefly  outlined  before  our  ways  divide. 
For,  indeed,  as  the  greatest  of  dramas  are  ever  trag- 
edies, and  all  human  life  ends  in  death,  the  author 
and  reader  of  these  pages,  if  in  company  just  a  little 
longer,  will  have  to  part  beside  a  quiet  grave,  just 
one  of  many,  many,  that  are  tapped  lightly  in  turn 
by  the  raindrops  and  pine  needles,  snowflakes  and 
blossoms. 

In  1890  Father  Walworth  bought  a  dwelling, 
number  38  Steuben  street,  adjoining  the  rectory  of 
St.  Mary's  Church.  He  had  long  kept  in  view  such 
a  purchase,  principally  to  secure  that  sacred  edifice 
against  the  possibility  of  undesirable  neighbors.  He 
invested  in  it  some  of  his  own  means,  taking  care, 
however,  to  will  it  to  the  church  as  a  gift  from  the 
pastor.  To  this  dwelling  he  invited  three  of  his  rela- 
tives. These  were  his  niece  Ellen,  who  became  at 
that  time  his  amanuensis,  a  grandniece  not  yet  of 
school  age,  and  her  widowed  mother,  a  lady  of  quiet, 
refined  tastes  and  a  retiring  disposition.  These, 
with  their  maid,  formed  a  little  household  with 
which  he  spent  more  and  more  of  his  time  as  in- 
creasing blindness  narrowed  the  circle  of  his  activi- 
ties.    A  door  cut  for  the  purpose  afforded  access  to 


314     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

this  household  from  the  rectory,  number  41  Chapel 
street,  which  was  then  a  single  house,  just  the  width 
of  one  large  room  and  a  hall.  Both  houses  have 
since  been  much  altered  and  made  into  one  large 
rectory.  At  that  time,  however,  there  was  no  com- 
municating door  on  the  principal  floor.  The  one 
that  was  opened  in  1890  was  on  the  second  floor  op- 
posite that  of  the  Pastor's  own  room.  His  vener- 
able housekeeper  continued  until  the  time  of  her 
death  to  preside  over  the  domestic  arrangements  at 
the  rectory,  serving  the  clergy  with  discretion  and 
zeal  in  sickness  and  in  health.  It  was  in  the  sitting- 
room  of  his  niece  Ellen,  just  opposite  his  own  special 
theological  "  sanctum,"  that  Father  Walworth  spent 
henceforth  most  of  the  morning  hours  in  literary  pur- 
suits, whether  pastoral  or  general.  His  theological 
books,  now  at  the  Catholic  University  of  America, 
often  crossed  the  rectory  hall  in  those  days  to  be 
replaced  on  their  self-same  shelves  after  each  sitting. 
The  home  of  his  nieces  was,  otherwise,  kept  quite 
distinct  from  that  of  the  clergy,  in  accordance  with 
his  explicit  direction  as  to  arrangements.  He  him- 
self, however,  shared  the  interests  of  both  house- 
holds, enlivening  sometimes  one  and  sometimes  the 
other  with  his  resistless  torrent  of  anecdote,  whilst 
he  controlled  both  with  his  dominant  personality. 
Seven  placid  years  glided  on  in  this  way,  his  pastoral 
cares  gradually  lightened,  meanwhile,  by  the  zealous 
labors  of  the  vice-rector  and  each  of  the  curates  who 
became,  in  turn,  inmates  of  the  old  rectory. 

He    had    one    acute    sorrow    during    this    time. 
The  dav  came  when  he  could  no  longer  sav  Ifass. 

t  v.   .  » 

His  consecrated  hand,  after  clasping  the  chalice  daily 


Nearly  Blind.  315 

in  the  Holy  Mass  for  the  space  of  forty  years,  had 
gathered  up  his  pen  just  as  his  eyesight  was  growing 
dim,  to  write  the  following  lines.  They  are  from 
page  124  of  "Andiatorocte,"  his  volume  of  poems 
hymns  and  meditations  in  verse.  Let  us  read  them 
in  this  connection  and  see  if  the  same  strong,  sweet 
bells  of  thought  do  not  ring  through  these  verses  as 
through  that  letter  he  wrote  to  his  father  on  July  21, 
1845.  Comparing  the  two  we  find  at  once  the  key- 
note of  his  apostolic  career. 

THE  PRIESTLY  ROBE. 

I. 

Touch  it  lightly,  or  not  at  all, 

Let  it  not  fall! 

Let  not  a  fabric  so  august 

Trail  in  the  dust! 

'Tis  a  costly  thing, 

Woven  by  love  in  suffering. 

'Twas  Jesus'  parting  gift  to  men. 

When  the  Lord  rose  to  Heaven  again, 

His  latest  breathing  fell  on  it, 

And  left  a  sacred  spell  on  it. 

A  mystery  hides  within  its  folds. 

Quickened   by   sacramental  breath, 

It  holds 

The  power  of  life  and  death. 

Would  you  sully  it?     Would  you  rend  it? 

Is  there  a  Christian  would  not  defend  it  — 

A  robe  so  costly,  and  so  rare, 

So  wonderfully  fair? 

Woe  to  the  hand  profane, 

Woe  to  the  heart  ungracious, 

Woe  to  the  tongue  unheeding, 

Would  dare  to  cast  a  stain 

On  a  vestment  made  so  precious 

By  such  costly  bleeding! 


316     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

II. 

I   know  this  robe  and  its  history, 

And  what  strange  virtue  goeth  forth 

From   its  hem  to  bless  the  earth; 

And  I  adore  the  mystery 

That  gives  it  grace, 

In  Jesus'  name,  to  soothe  and  heal. 

With  more  than  human  tenderness 

I  prize  the  priestly  order; 

And  while  with  reverent  knee  I  kneel, 

I  do  not  see  beneath  the  border 

Frail  feet  of  clay, 

But  seek  to  find,  if  so  I  may, 

By  feeling. 

Some  gracious  thread  which  will  convey 

To  my  sore  spirit  healing. 

Vicars  of  Christ!    Deem  me  not  rude, 

If  nearer  than  is  wont  I  press  me; 

But  turn,  and  bless  me 

Amid  the  kneeling  multitude. 

In  this  last  line  he  places  himself,  priest  though 
he  he,  not  at  the  altar,  but  down  among  the  laity, 
not  as  if  giving  but  rather  receiving  on  his  knees, 
from  the  celebrant,  the  Holy  Communion  and 
priestly  benediction.  It  contains  both  pathos  and 
prophecy  when  one  understands  that  whilst  he  wrote 
it  the  light  of  day  was  slowly  stealing  away  from 
him.  His  eyesight  did  not  give  out  so  completely 
but  that  Father  Walworth  could  "  see  his  way 
about,*'  at  least  to  some  extent.  But  five  years  be- 
fore his  death  it  already  failed  to  show  him  the 
words  of  his  missal,  printed  specially  for  him  in 
large  capital  letters  half  an  inch  high;  nor  did  it 
suffice  to  guide  his  hand,  becoming  tremulous  too 
with   old  age,  in  touching  and  moving  the  chalice. 


Nearly  Blind.  317 

One  morning,  on  a  week-day  in  Lent,  shortly  after 
pronouncing   the   well-known    words   of   the   Gospel 
and  Creed,  he  turned  to  his  faithful  flock,  gathered 
in  the  basement  chapel  of  St.  Mary's,  to  say :   "I  am 
sorry,  my  good  people,  that  I  cannot  see  to  finish 
the  Holy  Mass.     I  beg  that  you  will  pray  for  me*7' 
Then  calmly  and  patiently  he  went  to  the  vestry  and 
took  off  his  chasuble  for  the  last  time.     Coming  for- 
ward  soon  after  to  the  priedieu,  where  he  usually 
made  his  thanksgiving  after  Mass,  he  there  remained 
absorbed  in  prayer,  with  his  face  buried  in  his  hands, 
during  the  Mass  of  his  assistant  priest.    Thenceforth 
he  habitually  knelt  at  a  priedieu,  within  or  near  the 
sanctuary,  whether  in  the  basement  chapel  or  upper 
church,   every  day   and  Sunday  too,   during  the  7 
o'clock  Mass,   almost   without   interruption   for   five 
years;  that  is  to  say,  up  to  the  time  of  his  last  illness. 
The  altar  bovs  became  accustomed  to  hand  him  the 
communion-card  and  the  officiating  priest  gave  him 
communion  as  he  passed  to  the  altar  rail,  ciborium 
in  hand.     Then  once  more   at  the   altar  he   would 
turn,  as  is  usual,  to  give  the  final  benediction;  and 
thus  he  often  blessed  the  aged  pastor,  as  the  poem 
says  — 

"Amid  the  kneeling  multitude." 
When  he  could  no  longer  say  Mass,  Father  Wal- 
worth was  not  debarred  from  hearing  confessions, 
and  when  he  became  too  deaf  for  that,  he  could  still 
instruct  converts  and  preach  some  memorable  ser- 
mons. As  the  physical  powers  waned  and  the  eigh- 
tieth year  milestone  came  in  sight,  his  apostolic  en- 
ergy found  vent  in  literature  that  kept  constantly 
busy  the  hand  of  his  amanuensis.     He  carried  on 


31 S     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

to  the  very  end,  in  a  way  of  his  own,  what  some 
have  called  the  apostolate  of  the  press.  Father  Wal- 
worth found  that  when  he  announced  to  his  congre- 
gation that  he  would  preach  at  a  certain  Mass  on  a 
certain  subject  —  generally  some  crying  evil  of  the 
day  —  and  asked  them  to  make  a  special  effort  to 
be  present,  they  not  only  came,  but  other  citizens 
came,  and  the  reporters  of  the  local  newspapers  were 
also  sure  to  be  there.  He  sometimes  found  fault 
with  these  last  for  garbling  his  sermons,  so  they 
asked  him  if  he  would  not  furnish  them  with  copy  — 
some  of  his  notes. 

As  amanuensis,  I  can  testify  that  the  notes  of  his 
later  sermons  were  very  brief;  they  seldom  covered 
two  pages,  though  the  Scripture  text  was  there  in 
full ;  many  volumes  had  been  consulted ;  and  the 
whole  subject  was  always  carefully  blocked  out  from 
exordium   to  peroration. 

When  he  had  some  great  reform  at  heart  he  wras 
not  a  man  to  let  go  his  chance  to  reach  the  people, 
not  only  of  Albany  but,  as  far  as  possible,  of  all 
America.  At  such  times  he  would  write  out  a  full 
sermon  carefullv  and  in  advance  to  be  given  to  the 
reporters.  But  in  immediate  preparation  for  the 
pulpit  he  never  looked  at  it.  He  glanced,  instead, 
at  the  brief  notes  which  lay,  as  usual,  under  the 
paper-weight  on  his  library  table.  He  preached 
thoughts  to  the  people  rather  than  words,  and  if  the 
thoughts  wore  different  words  in  the  pulpit  from 
those  he  had  put  on  the  paper,  it  did  not  concern 
him.  But  when  his  thought  itself  was  butchered  in 
print  he  pursued  the  unhappy  reporter  to  a  final 
confusion  of  repentance.     When   his   sermon  on   a 


Nearly  Blind.  319 

subject  of  more  than  local  interest  was  well  reported 
he  secured  from  twenty  to  a  hundred  or  more  copies 
and  gathered  as  many  willing  hands  as  possible,  on 
short  notice,  to  mark,  wrap  and  carefully  address 
them,  keeping  always  a  list  of  those  to  whom  they 
were  mailed.  Some  of  these  lists  were  made  up 
largely  of  temperance  advocates  in  different  States, 
others  of  archbishops,  others  again  of  Congressmen 
or  State  legislators,  personal  friends  and  mere  ac- 
quaintances, or  known  to  him  only  through  the 
medium  of  books  and  the  daily  press.  But  each 
name  was  carefully  weighed  and  no  pains  counted 
too  great  to  secure  the  right  address,  all  with  a  view 
to  projecting  his  matured  thought  onward  and  get- 
ting it  into  action  for  the  good  of  human  souls.  In 
many  ways  he  succeeded,  and  thoughts  of  his  are  still 
bearing  fruit  in  useful  lives. 

"  The  Reminiscences  of  Bishop  Wadhams  "  and 
"  The  Oxford  Movement  in  America "  were  com- 
pleted and  issued  in  book  form.  His  third  set  of 
memoirs  was  under  way,  dealing  with  "A  Catholic 
Crisis  in  England,"  and  showing  Cardinal  Wise- 
man's part  therein.  "  The  Walworths  of  America," 
a  history  and  genealogy,  begun  long  since  and  con- 
tinued at  odd  times,  was  meanwhile  surging  over 
the  tables  and  desks  of  the  sitting-room  like  the  re- 
sistless waves  King  Canute  endeavored  to  sweep 
back.  The  little  grandniece  was  by  this  time  off 
at  boarding-school,  climbing  the  long  hill  of  educa- 
tion at  a  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  in  the  same 
house  where  a  cloistered  aunt  of  hers  was  already 
dwelling,  happy  in  her  seclusion. 

Then  it  was  that  the  clouds  began  to  lower  and 


320     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

the  once  powerful  intellect  to  shudder  and  strain  and 
start  again  with  rapid  pace,  like  a  ship  entering  a 
long  reach  of  angry  sea.  When  all  other  ways  of 
concentrating  thought  and  prayer  were  made  dif- 
ficult by  infirmities,  except  his  beloved  rosary,  the 
venerable  priest  would  still  find  food  for  meditation 
in  the  familiar  words  of  hymns.  Lest  he  should  for- 
get their  sequence,  however,  stanzas  of  Latin  verse 
by  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  and  St.  Bernard,  or  of  Eng- 
lish verse  by  Faber  and  others,  on  broad  sheets  of 
paper,  were  written  in  very  large  black  letters,  and 
were  held  by  a  paper-weight  on  the  table  before  his 
windows.  These  verses  were  conned  by  him  whilst 
dressing,  to  be  expanded  into  meditations  half  an 
hour  later,  during  his  thanksgiving  after  com- 
munion. He  was  too  blind  to  say  Mass,  too  deaf  to 
hear  confessions,  and  after  each  sermon,  that  filled 
the  great  church  with  his  clarion  voice,  still  full  of 
sweetness  and  power,  he  now  suffered  for  two  days 
at  least  with  nervous  exhaustion.  As  his  turn  came 
round  he  began  to  fear  lest  his  memory,  so  marvelous 
and  richly  freighted,  should  some  day  play  him 
false,  lest  the  fine-woven  thread  of  his  discourse 
might  snap  and  he  be  forced  to  leave  unfinished  a 
sermon,  as  blindness  had  already  forced  him  to  leave 
incomplete  his  last  Holy  Mass.  But  this  never  hap- 
pened. He  did  not  let  it  happen.  He  foresaw  its 
coming  in  good  season  to  quit.  He  gave  up  his  cus- 
tom of  preaching  every  third  Sunday  at  St.  Mary's ; 
but  about  that  time  he  appeared  twice  in  the  Cathe- 
dral pulpit  at  funerals,  and  on  both  occasions  he 
showed  much  of  his  old  power.  On  one  of  these 
occasions  he  spoke  the  eulogy  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Wil- 


Nearly  Blind.  -°>21 

liam  Morange,  already  mentioned  as  a  counselor-at- 
law  and  the  "  poet-laureate  of  Albany,"  a  gentle, 
lovable  man  for  whom  the  orphans  of  the  asylum 
mourned  as  for  their  own.  On  the  other  occasion 
he  described  his  intercourse  with  James  Hall,  a  hero 
of  science,  and  for  over  fifty  years  geologist  of  New 
York  State.  The  announcement  of  the  obsequies  of 
this  last-named  friend  of  Father  Walworth  rilled 
the  beautiful  Cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion with  a  notable  gathering,  including  scientists 
of  manv  creeds  and  of  none.  But  not  one  indif- 
ferent  listener  could  be  singled  out  in  all  the  sea 
of  faces  that  looked  up  at  the  noble  countenance  of 
the  preacher.  He  could  no  longer  catch  the  answer- 
ing gleams  of  intelligence  that  awoke  in  answer 
to  his  uttered  thought,  and  so  kindle  with  renewed 
fire  his  own  eloquence.  The  sermon  was  quiet, 
thoughtful,  descriptive,  narrative.  Perhaps,  how- 
ever, for  such  an  audience,  it  thrilled  the  more,  be- 
ing spoken  from  his  "  cloister  of  the  senses,"  for 
such  he  himself  was  wont  to  term  his  increasing 
deprivation  of  sight  and  hearing. 

Now,  his  voice  would  no  longer  be  taxed  to  fill 
a  great  church.  Even  the  conferences  to  his  Chil- 
dren of  Mary,  previously  described,  were  coining  to 
an  end.  The  changes  of  temperature  in  passing 
from  house  to  chapel  had  proved  too  great  for  an 
invalid.  So,  too,  must  cease,  little  by  little,  his  in- 
structive conversations  with  his  curates,  those  of  the 
present  and  the  past,  who  loved  to  share  with  him 
their  leisure  moments ;  and,  the  happy  evenings  spent 
with  his  nieces,  when  he  often  reverted  to  the  long- 
loved  tales  of  Scott  and   Cooper.      These  had  been 


322     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

frequently  reread  aloud  to  him,  and  even  through 
an  ear-trumpet,  to  the  animated  accompaniment  of 
his  own  inimitable  commentary.  In  his  estima- 
tion their  works  were  too  valuable  ever  to  be  out  of 
date.  His  older  edition  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  works 
held  many  manuscript  maps  which  he  had  drawn 
on  the  fly-leaves  to  make  plain  the  scenes  of  the 
stories.  When  in  Scotland  he  could  even  direct 
Scotchmen  how  to  find  them.  Subscriptions  to  the 
magazines  that  had  strewn  his  tables,  the  Atlantic 
Monthly,  the  North  American  Review,  Scribners, 
all,  in  fact,  but  the  Catholic  World  magazine,  to 
which  he  was  still  a  contributor,  as  well  as  the  publi- 
cations of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  were  allowed  to  lapse.  The  cur- 
rent literature  from  the  Young  Men's  Association 
library  ceased  now  to  interest  him  as  thought  stimu- 
lus, either  to  be  enjoyed  or  criticised.  Like  a  vessel 
homeward  bound  from  the  open  sea  he  was  gliding 
inward  from  all  the  mighty  currents  of  human  activ- 
ity toward  the  quiet  harbor  lights. 

He  had  laid  aside  some  essays  which  he  dictated 
on  the  relations  of  science  and  religion,  entitled 
"The  Philosophy  of  the  Supernatural,"  because  the 
theological  points  involved  required  a  series  of  foot- 
notes too  deep  and  intricate  to  be  supplied  by  the 
aid  of  a  lay  amanuensis.  These  he  was  never  able 
to  complete. 

He  had  already  gathered  up  a  part  of  his  rhythmic 
meditations,  written  out  bv  his  own  hand  a  decade 
earlier,  and  put  them  into  a  volume  entitled  "Andia- 
torocte;  or,  The  Eve  of  Lady  Day  on  Lake  George, 


Nearly  Blind.  323 

and  Other  Poems,  Hymns  and  Meditations  in 
Verse."  *  His  last  book,  "  The  Walworths  of 
America,"  was  published  in  1897. 

That  year,  1897,  was  notable  in  more  ways  than 
one.      During    its    course    there    came    to    the    aged 
pastor  the  cheering  glow  of  a  gorgeous  sunset.   There 
came,   in   the  waning  of  summertime,  a  great  day, 
when    St.    Mary's  parish   celebrated    its   centennial. 
The  magnificence  of  this  event  was  due  to  the  energy 
of  the  vice-rector,  Eev.  J.  J.  Dillon.     Father  Wal- 
worth was  happy  in  receiving  under  his  roof  at  that 
time  the  Apostolic  Delegate,  Archbishop  Martinelli, 
a    most    worthy    ambassador    of   the   noble    pontiff, 
Leo  XIII.     It  was  an  added  pleasure  for  him  to 
entertain  at  the  same  time  the  distinguished  pulpit 
orator  chosen  for  this  interesting  occasion,  who  was 
already  known  to  him,  Rev.   Father   Van  Rensse- 
laer,  S.  J.     The  gorgeous  robes  of  the  former,  as 
he  moved  slowly  across  the  sanctuary  of  the  historic 
church,   followed  by  the  train-bearers   of  Rt.   Rev. 
T.  M.  A.  Burke,  happily  ruling  as  fourth  Bishop  of 
Albanv,   and   who   also   graced  the  occasion  by  his 
presence,   with   many   other   dignitaries,    gave   bril- 
liancv  of  coloring  to  a  scene  of  indescribable  beauty. 
The  newly   frescoed   interior   and  beautiful    arches 
of  the  church,  lit  up  as  never  before,  with  electric 
light,  the  happy  congregation,  the  magnificent  music, 
all  contributed  to  the  effect.     Some,  at  least,  of  this 


*  This  book,  "  Andiatorocte,"  published  by  G.  P.  Putnam  s  Sons 
—  The  Knickerbocker  Press — 1888,  was  later  put  into  the  hands 
of  The  Catholic  Book  Exchange  at  the  publishing  office  of  the 
Paulist  Fathers  in  New  York  city,  the  same  whence  issued  in 
1895,  his  "  Oxford  Movement  in  America."  "  The  Walworths  of 
America,-'  his  genealogical  book,  was  published  (1897)  by  '  The 
Weed-Parsons    Printing   Company,"    of   Albany. 


324     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

resplendent  glory  percolated  through  the  bedimmed 
senses  of  the  pastor  and  made  his  heart  bound  with 
joyful  gratitude.  Tall  and  dark,  amid  this  dazzling 
brightness,  stood  the  Jesuit,  in  dear  old  St.  Mary's 
oaken  pulpit.  He  stood  there  in  the  hey-day  of 
manly  beauty,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  first  Albany 
Patroon,  and  all  the  while  a  crucifix  glimmered 
at  his  girdle.  He  was  every  inch  a  blackgown,  a 
devoted  missionary,  a  loyal  son  of  Loyola,  and  so, 
too,  was  the  one  of  whom  he  spoke,  Isaac  Jogues, 
discoverer  of  Lake  George,  friend  of  Megapolensis  at 
Fort  Orange  and  martyr  of  the  Mohawk  mission. 
Who  could  say  that  Father  Van  Rensselaer  was  not 
the  right  man  in  the  right  place  for  that  occasion? 
The  vigor  and  the  graces  of  a  noble  orator  were  his. 
However  much  or  little  Father  Walworth  saw  or 
heard  of  it  all,  he  was  yet  happy  on  that  memorable 
dav  in  his  "  cloister  of  the  senses." 


XV. 
IN  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  SHADOW  OF  DEATH. 

The   Chanting   of   a  Hundred   Priests  — A  Memorial 

Meeting  of  Fellow-Citizens  —  Three  Monuments 

to  Father  Walworth's  Memory — Conclusion. 

To  have  walked  side  by  side  with  a  priest  of  God 
through  the  ever-darkening  "  valley  of  the  shadow  of 
death  " ;  to  have  shuddered  and  grown  wan  at  the 
sight  of  the  terrible  sufferings  of  a  beloved  and  ven- 
erated companion,  afflictions  in  body,  in  mind  and  in 
soul;  to  have  passed  out  alone  from  weird,  dusky 
recesses  of  hallowed  pain,  and  then  to  have  wandered 
desolate  over  the  grim  desert  of  bereavement  that 
must  ever  divide  such  a  death  chamber  from  the 
usual  haunts  of  men;  this,  indeed,  was  a  wondrous 
and  thrilling  experience. 

To  turn  one's  thoughts  back  upon  it  suddenly  is  to 
shrink  instinctively  as  from  a  plunge  into  clear, 
frosty  water.  ^Nor,  having  once  re-entered  it  in 
imagination,  is  it  easy  to  determine  just  how  much 
of  the  experience  of  those  last  three  years  belong 
to  this  series  of  biographical  sketches,  nor  how 
much  should  remain  locked  within  the  souls  of 
a  few  privileged  ones  of  his  twofold  home.  These 
were  the  household  companions  who,  with  his 
friend  and  physician,  Dr.  P.  J.  Keegan,  wit- 
nessed the  gradual  encloistering  of  a  soul  by 
act  of  God  and  the  silent  passing  from  earth 
of  Clarence  Walworth.     To  them  it  was  proved  in 


32  G     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

a  mysterious  and  marvelous  way  how  "  Power  is 
made  perfect  in  infirmity."  The  main  outward 
facts,  however,  of  his  last  acute  illness  should  be  here 
recorded.  Let  us  begin  then,  at  once,  their  narra- 
tion, with  but  two  introductory  incidents. 

On  the  15th  day  of  October  in  the  year  1899, 
Father  Walworth   was  too  feeble  to  rise  from  his 
bed.     He  called  me  to  his  side  and  asked  if  I  re- 
membered whose  feast  occurred  on  that  day.     A  mo- 
ment's  thought   brought    it    to    mind.      It   was    St. 
Teresa's  dav.     His  face  brightened  at  mention  of  the 
sweet  Carmelite's  name.     He  reminded  me  that  it 
was  the  anniversary  of  his  taking  of  the  vows  in  the 
congregation  of  St.   Alphonsus.     From  these  vows, 
it  will  be  remembered  he  was  dispensed  by  Pope  Pius 
IX.     I  already  knew  that  far  from  regretting  that 
momentous    step    upward    from    the    novitiate,    he 
cherished  its  anniversary  as  one  of  the  happiest  days 
of  the  year.      Our  conversation   soon   drifted  to   a 
mention  of  his  cloistered  niece,  Clara  Teresa,  Re- 
ligious of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  he  once  more  ex- 
pressed gratification  at  her  evident  happiness  in  the 
community  life.     He   was  her  godfather   and  had 
placed  her  at  baptism,  under  the  patronage  of  Saint 

Teresa. 

A  few  days  later  Father  Walworth  was  up  and 
about  as  usual.  He  continued  to  send  on  copy  to 
The  Catholic  World  under  the  title  of  "  Remi- 
niscences of  a  Catholic  Crisis  in  England  Fifty 
Years  Ago."  Rot  long  before  the  holidays  he 
gave  final  correction  to  the  proof  sheets  for  the  con- 
cluding chapter.  It  has  already  been  referred  to  as 
describing  his  long,  stormy  voyage  from  England  to 


In  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.    327 

America,  Father  Bernard's  Novena  to  St.  Joseph 
with  the  captain's  comments  thereon,  and  the  happy 
arrival  at  the  port  of  New  York  on  St.  Joseph's 
Day,  1851.  That  last  chapter  of  his  closes  with 
these  words : 

"  A  kind  farewell  to  all  our  readers.  We  never 
know  when  we  shall  be  separated  from  the  public. 
We  ask,  therefore,  the  prayers  of  all  who  know  us, 
beginning  with  the  present  moment." 

They  are  to  be  found  in  The  Catholic  World 
for  January,  1900,  and  were  indeed  the  last  of  his 
printed  words,  appearing  just  two  weeks  before  he 
was  stricken  with  paralysis. 

When  the  first  New  Year's  Day  of  this  twen- 
tieth century  arrived,  he  remembered  his  old  cook, 
Margaret,  then  an  invalid  cared  for  at  the  home  of 
her  nieces  near  the  Austin  Mansion  on  Cathedral 
Hill.  His  last  long  walk  was  to  that  neighborhood 
to  call  and  inquire  for  her.  Before  leaving,  he  as- 
sured her  of  the  continuance  of  her  allowance,  the 
amount  of  her  usual  monthly  wages,  and  placed  in 
her  palm,  a  five  dollar  gold  piece,  his  accustomed 
holiday  remembrance  to  household  employees.  On 
the  following  davs  he  worked  hard  and  fast  both  at 
writing  and  at  tinkering.  He  was,  for  an  amateur 
mechanic,  quite  expert  in  the  use  of  carpenter's  tools, 
and  often  mended  small  breakages  about  the  house. 
It  was  a  special  hobby  of  his  to  whittle  wooden  pegs 
with  which  to  keep  the  window  casements  from 
rattling,  and  to  shape  other  small,  handy  articles 
from  wood. 

On  January  15,  1900,  he  again  remained  in  bed. 

*  7  /  l 

He   had   been    to    Mass    and    communion    the     dav 


328     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walwoeth. 

before,  but  shortly  afterward  he  fell  asleep  in 
his  chair.  Later  that  same  day  he  dictated  a  letter 
and  some  memoranda.  After  supper  he  conversed 
with  his  amanuensis,  retiring  at  his  usual  hour.  But 
on  this  midwinter  day  he  did  not  rise.  His  break- 
fast was  brought  up  to  him.  When  his  attendant, 
"  Lem,"  had  shoveled  the  snow  from  the  sidewalks 
and  appeared  in  the  room,  he  asked  him  for  his  pen- 
knife and  some  pieces  of  wood  partly  shaped.  He 
was  still  intent  upon  the  whittling,  his  back  propped 
up  with  pillows,  when  I  entered,  bearing  in  my  hand 
the  morning  mail.  Without  giving  me  time  even  to 
open  the  envelopes  and  name  to  him  the  signatures 
to  his  letters,  he  said  eagerly :  "  I  am  so  glad  you 
have  come.  I  want  you  to  write  down  something  I 
had  in  mind  during  the  night.  Get  your  writing 
paper  and  sit  here  by  the  bed."  "  Lem  7  gathered 
up  the  debris  of  the  last  task  as  quietly  and  promptly 
as  "  Libbie  "  had  removed  the  dishes.  We  were  left 
to  ourselves.  I  then  took  up  pad  and  pencil  and 
seated  myself  in  a  low  chair.  His  eyes  were  brighter 
than  usual  and  clearer.  Varying  conditions  of 
the  nerve  of  siarht  in  his  one  serviceable  eve  had 
their  effect  upon  his  power  of  vision.  A  person 
unfamiliar  with  these  might  sometimes  have  been 
tempted  to  think  he  was  "  playing  possum,"  as  the 
children  say,  when  he  really  was  not.  On  this  par- 
ticular morning  his  sight  was  evidently  at  its  best. 
"Have  you  a  pen?  "  "  No,  Uncle.  It  is  a  pencil." 
"  That  will  not  do,"  he  said.  "  Get  a  table  and  pen 
and  wik.  I  want  this  in  ink  so  it  will  last  and  be 
easy  to  read.     It  is  for  reference  afterward." 


In  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.     329 

When  all  was  as  he  wished,  he  continued:  "  Now 
write  the  title,  and  be  sure  to  leave- plenty  of  margin. 
Let  me  see!  "  And  taking  the  large  pad  from  me 
he  measured  off  against  it  with  his  thumb  an  extra 
wide  margin  saying:  "  There!  rule  it  there.  Under- 
score the  title  and  then  make  another  mark,  a  plain 
one,  to  separate  it  from  the  text  which  is  to  come 
later.   Now,  for  the  title,  write:  DE  TRINITATE." 

I  wrote  these  two  words  as  they  came  from  his 
lips, —  clear,  distinct,  emphatic.  Then  I  held  the 
paper  np  close  to  him  so  he  might  observe  the  heavy, 
black  stroke  that  was  under  them.  He  nodded 
his  head  in  approval.  Then  he  drew  himself  up  as 
straight  as  he  could  against  the  pillows.  His  eyes 
gleamed  with  intense  thought  and  his  whole  counte- 
nance, bright  with  his  theme,  showed  a  powerful  will 
gathering  its  energies  together  with  an  effort  to 
utter  some  concept  of  the  mind  that  was  difficult  to 
put  into  simple  words. 

A  part  of  the  charm  of  his  oratory  was  in  watch- 
ing the  expressive  play  of  thought  over  his  face  just 
before  his  most  thrilling  sentences  reached  the  ear. 
An  atmosphere  of  expectation  was  created  that  drew 
and  fixed  the  attention. 

I  fully  expected  to  hear  some  snch  words  at  that 
moment.  What  then  was  my  surprise  and  distress, 
after  an  almost  breathless  pause  to  hear  him  utter 
with  great  effort,  in  loud  tones,  a  sound  that  may  be 
written  thus :  "  Pomma-lom-aloyn-alomolomini." 

His  own  ears  partially  awakened  from  their  deaf- 
ness by  the  rapt  alertness  of  his  nerves  must  also 
have  caught  that  uncanny  sound.  His  expression  in- 
stantly changed  to  one  of  agony.     He  grasped  his 


330     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

throat  with  one  hand  and  hent  forward,  leaning  on 
the  other,  in  a  second  effort  to  articulate  the  words 
expressive  of  his  thought.  The  same  jargon  br  ! 
again  from  his  lips.  He  closed  his  eyelids  and  sank 
down  among  his  pillows,  his  arms  lying  like  one  in 
a  swoon.  Before  I  could  move  or  call  help, —  it  was 
a  condition  to  the  treatment  of  which  I  had  not  the 
slightest  clew, —  I  saw  him  open  his  eyes  wide  and 
heard  him  murmur  distinctly  in  tones  of  surprise 
and  distress :  "  Lost  —  my  —  speech/'  Then  quicker 
than  I  can  write  it,  he  faced  toward  his  bronze  cru- 
cifix that  hung  against  the  wall,  the  one  Pius  IX  had 
blessed  when  I  knelt  at  my  Uncle's  side  in  Raphael's 
Loggia.  He  seemed  for  an  instant  in  deep  prayer, 
and  then  a  look  of  calmness  and  peace  settled  over 
his  features,  as  he  lay  without  otherwise  changing 
his  posture, —  limp,  motionless,  exhausted. 

"  That  was  an  act  of  perfect  resignation,"  I  said 
to  myself,  as  I  rose  to  summon  the  doctor. 

It  seemed  in  my  anxious  search  as  if  both  houses 
had  become  tenantless,  save  for  the  presence  of  my- 
self and  the  patient.  But  Father  Dillon  was  soon 
found  at  his  desk.  He  hastened  to  the  bedside  re- 
maining there  quiet  and  observant.  Dr.  Keegan  en- 
tered the  room  a  little  later.  At  the  familiar  touch 
of  his  hand,  the  patient  rallied.  Before  he  left  the 
sickroom  several  sentences  were  uttered  without  effort 
bv  Father  Walworth,  and  it  seemed  almost  as  if  the 
previous  moments  of  suspense  had  been  a  dream. 

But  there  lay  the  written  words:  "  DE  TRINI- 
TATE,"  to  recall  them  to  me. 

Xext  day  the  doctor  came  again.  The  right  side 
of  the  patient  was  paralyzed  and  remained  so  for 


In  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.  331 

eight  months.  Never  for  another  day  was  he  able 
with  certainty  to  express  either  thoughts  or  wants. 
Occasionally  whole  sentences  would  roll  easily  from 
his  tongue  but  these  came  each  time  as  a  surprise  to 
himself  and  to  his  nurses.  For  the  most  part,  what 
he  said  was  jargon,  or  single  words  having,  perhaps, 
some  reference  to  his  idea  or  immediate  need  which 
must,  after  all,  be  guessed.  In  a  sense,  the  fact  so 
weirdly  stated  by  himself  was  true  —  lie  had  lost  his 
speech.  The  cloister  of  his  senses  was  complete. 
He  was  a  strong,  muscular  man  pinned  down  with 
only  a  vast  capacity  to  suffer.  Between  tragic  hours 
of  delirium  and  fierce  pain  came  intervals  of  sunny 
cheerfulness  when  he  would  try  to  tell  us  funny 
stories,  or  burst  into  laughter  at  his  own  absurd- 
ities of  helplessness.  Weeks  and  even  months  passed 
by  in  which  death  seemed  each  day  imminent.  But 
wThy  give  details  of  a  strange  illness  that  was,  indeed, 
as  characterized  by  a  thoughtful  relative,  a  pro- 
longed martyrdom  of  anguish.  The  thought  that  it 
was  for  the  most  part  endured  in  expiation  not  of 
his  own  but  of  others'  sins  came  to  more  than  one 
person. 

Some  weeks  after  the  paralytic  stroke,  it  was 
decided  to  anoint  him.  There  was  a  doubt  in  some 
minds  as  to  whether  he  was  reasonable  enough  to 
understand  what  was  to  be  done  for  him.  His  vice- 
rector  approached  the  bed  in  surplice  and  stole,  to 
be  met  with  a  fierce  thrust  of  the  patient's  long  and 
powerful  arm.  The  vice-rector  stepped  aside  a 
little  but  continued  to  read  the  prayers  of  the  Kitual. 
He  took  the  sacred  oil  and  bending  over  the  prostrate 
priest  touched  it  to  his  eye-lid.    Instantly  the  expres- 


332     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

sion  of  Father  Walworth's  face  changed.  I  stood 
at  the  foot  of  the  bed  drawing  from  the  paralyzed 
foot  a  knit  sock  made  for  him  by  a  non-Catholic 
cousin.  I  saw  him  smile  sweetly  and  he  murmured: 
"  Yes,  yes,"  as  his  other  eye,  long  diseased  and  cur- 
tained besides  with  a  cataract,  received  its  unction. 
At  the  same  moment  he  gently  lifted  his  left  arm 
from  the  covers  and  held  the  hand  over  toward 
Father  Dillon.  It  is  customary,  I  learned,  to  anoint 
a.  priest,  not  on  the  palm  but  on  the  back  of  the 
hand.  Just  then,  as  shown  by  a  movement  of  the 
coverings,  his  left  leg  unbent  and  the  foot  was 
promptly  pushed  into  my  hands  to  be  made  ready 
for  the  anointing. 

When  the  solemn  and  impressive  sacramental  cere- 
mony was  over,  and  the  prayers  ceased,  he  unclosed 
his  eves  and  said  in  a  calm,  sweet  voice :  "  Isn't  there 
something  else  ? '  The  vice-rector  turned  quickly 
toward  him  and  in  a  loud,  clear  voice,  said:  "  Shall 
I  bring  you  Holy  Communion  ? '  This  time  no 
words  came  but  Father  Walworth  opened  his  mouth 
and  extended  his  tongue  as  is  done  at  the  altar-rail. 
In  a  few  moments  more  the  Blessed  Sacrament  had 
been  brought  up  to  him  from  the  church,  after  which 
he  strove  to  make  aloud  a  fervent  thanksgiving. 

A  strong  young  man,  a  medical  student,  was  just 
then  his  night-nurse.  He  and  I  and  "  Libbie  '  re- 
mained on  our  knees  in  the  room.  The  efforts  of 
the  sick  man  to  utter  words  of  prayer,  his  halting 
speech  and  struggle  to  collect  his  thoughts,  so 
touched  the  large  and  sturdy  nurse  that  great  tears 
rolled  over  his  young  face.  Uncle  said  to  me,  who 
was  nearest :    "  Can't  you  help  ?  "    and  I  repeated 


In  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.     333 

verses  of  Faber's  hymns  and  short  aspirations  after 
communion  which  I  knew  he  loved;  and  then  extin- 
guishing the  blessed  candles,  left  him  to  a  peace- 
ful rest.  He  received  communion  frequently  during 
the  following  months.  It  was  Rev.  Father  Judge 
who  gave  him  the  last  viaticum.  He  was  again 
anointed,  the  third  day  before  he  died,  by  Eev. 
Father  Dillon.  This  time  he  was  less  conscious  than 
on  the  previous  occasion.  After  eight  months  in  bed, 
on  a  milk  diet,  other  food  being  refused,  his  strength 
was  gone.  He  lay  part  of  each  day  in  a  torpid  con- 
dition. But  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  he  re- 
ceived the  last  anointing,  he  called  me  by  name  and 
kissed  his  crucifix.     It  was  Sunday,  September  16th. 

"  Nelly !  "  said  he ;  and  he  looked  up  several  times, 
first  at  me  and  then  at  the  Pio  Nono  crucific,  blessed 
for  a  happy  death ;  till  finally,  he  got  me  to  unhook  it 
from  the  wall  and  give  it  to  him  to  kiss.  He  was 
too  weak  to  hold  it  even  for  a  moment.  So  I  put  it 
again  on  its  hook,  near  the  picture  of  "  Christ's  En- 
tombment '  where  it  had  hung  for  twenty-six  years 
within  easy  reach  from  his  bed. 

My  strength,  too,  was  waning  from  disturbance  of 
sleep,  anxiety  and  care.  I  was  obliged  to  spend  at 
least  half  of  each  day  on  my  bed.  For  the  month 
past,  the  greater  part  of  my  previous  duties  had  been 
taken  up  by  Sister  Celine,  a  merry,  strong,  sweet, 
skillfully  trained  Bon  Secours  nun,  obtained  from 
her  convent  in  New  York  city.  This  was  made  pos- 
sible through  the  kind  intervention  of  the  Superior 
of  the  Paulists,  Very  Rev.  Father  Deshon,  on 
consultation  with  the  Archbishop.  After  attending 
to  her  patient,  Sister  Celine  would  come  at  night  to 


334     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

give  me  the  latest  news  of  him,  and  kneel  at  my 
bedside  to  say  aloud  with  me  our  night  prayers. 
Once,  with  her  French  accent,  she  spoke  thus: 
"  Your  Uncle  is  resting  very  quietly.  I  put  holy 
water  on  his  forehead  and  asked :  '  Father,  did  you 
say  your  night  prayers  to-night  ? '  He  lifted  his 
head  from  the  pillow,  a  little  so,"  she  continued, 
smoothing  her  face  of  its  smiles  to  mimic  his  slow, 
stately  and  courteous  bend  of  the  head  forward  in 
assent.  "  Then  I  made  a  cross  on  him  there,  with 
my  thumb."  She  touched  her  own  brow.  "  Now 
you  know  he  is  resting  and  very  wise,  so  go  to  sleep. 
Good  night." 

The  last  three  days  of  his  life  he  did  not  speak  at 
all;  nor  did  he  notice  me  on  Tuesday  evening  when 
I  stood  for  a  lono-  time  at  his  bedside.  Sister  Celine 
was  with  Father  Walworth  at  1  o'clock  the  next 
morning,  which  was  that  of  his  death.  It  was 
Wednesday,  September  19,  1900.  She  found 
him  conscious  at  that  dark  and  quiet  hour,  for  he 
made  a  motion  of  dissent  when  she  touched  his  dry 
lips  with  a  soothing  wash.  She  thought  he  wanted 
to  be  undisturbed;  that  perhaps  he  was  praying. 
She  left  him  to  rest,  William  Dunn  being  seated  in 
an  arm  chair  near  by  to  watch  with  him  till  she 
should  return.  At  4  o'clock  William  stepped  up 
to  the  bed  and  found  that  he  was  dead.  Thus  quietly, 
to  use  the  vice-rector's  words,  "  He  slipped  away 
from  us ;"  just  exactly  when,  no  one  knew. 

It  was  very  hard  to  convince  me  he  was  dead. 
I  was  awakened  bv  a  kiss  from  Sister  Celine,  and 
she  led  me  to  his  side.  His  face  and  hands  felt  warm 
to  my  touch.     I  thought  the  doctor  would  be  able  in 


In  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Deatjj.     335 

a  few  minutes  to  restore  him  to  consciousness.  This 
idea  came  from  my  inexperience.  AH  present  knew 
more  of  death  scenes  than  I.  They  assured  me  that 
Father  Walworth  was  indeed  gone  from  our  midst, 
beyond  recall.  All  the  work  and  all  the  pain  of  his 
long  life  were  over. 

"  When  he  dies,  give  him  every  honor  of  burial," 
were  the  words  Bishop  Burke  had  spoken  some  weeks 
before.  He  had  visited  him  whilst  he  lay  on  his 
death-bed,  had  received  his  greeting  and  had  accorded 
him  a  blessing,  just  before  starting  for  Europe.  He 
being  still  abroad,  his  Vicar-General,  Monsignor 
Swift,  was  promptly  notified  of  the  death  and  pre- 
pared, together  with  the  vice-rector  of  St.  Mary's, 
to  carry  out  the  full  ceremonial  of  the  grand  old 
church  to  which  Father  Walworth  had  given  his  al- 
legiance. Festoons  of  mournful  drapery  in  the  his- 
toric parish  church  proved  to  be  no  less  picturesque 
among  its  graceful  arches,  than  were  the  old-time 
Christmas  evergreens,  which  the  pastor  had  long  ago 
taught  the  boys  and  girls  of  his  parish  to  use  with 
good  effect.  His  friends  from  far  and  near,  of 
Church  and  State,  and  City,  as  well  as  members  of 
the  family,  gathered  rapidly.  The  chanting  of  a 
hundred  priests  who  stood  near  his  bier  just  outside 
the  sanctuary  and  in  front  of  the  great  altar  arch 
he  had  himself  designed,  rose  and  fell  in  majestic 
waves  of  sound  more  like  a  grand  paeon  of  victory 
than  the  pleading  of  sorrowful  prayer.  It  was  in- 
spiring, thrilling,  uplifting.  On  those  waves  of 
sound  the  soul  could  rise  up  and  move  onward  like 
a  well-steered  ship  over  the  breast  of  an  ocean  of 
thoughts  toward  its  appointed  haven.     The  majesty 


336     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

of  concurrent  prayer  and  praise  in  the  chanting  of 
that  office  of  the  dead  seemed  to  rise  to  the  apex  of  its 
might.  And  why  should  it  not,  over  the  entry  into 
eternity  of  a  man  of  God,  a  nobleman  of  Nature, 
a  true  priest  according  to  the  order  of  Melchisedec  ? 
Each  and  all  of  these  was  Father  Walworth. 

One  month  later  Father  Deshon  had  a  Solemn 
High  Mass  of  Requiem  chanted  for  him  at  St.  Paul's 
Church  in  New  York  city. 

The  civic  tribute  to  his  memory  reached  its  fullest 
expression  six  months  later,  when  his  fellow  citizens 
were  formally  gathered  to  voice  their  sentiments  in  a 
public  hall  at  Albany.  A  sufficient  account  of  this 
occasion  as  well  as  further  details  of  the  funeral  may 
be  gathered  from  a  selection  of  press  notices  to  be 
given  as  a  conclusion  to  this  chapter  and  work. 

His  amanuensis  has  but  a  few  more  words  of  her 
own  to  set  down.  Her  task  in  that  capacity  ended 
the  very  day  that  the  stroke  of  paralysis  felled  Father 
Walworth  like  a  storm-stricken  oak  tree  destined  to 
lie  prostrate  in  its  strength  for  a  long  time,  whilst 
yet  holding  much  of  life-giving  sap  and  leafy 
foliage. 

It  was  a  labor  of  love,  however,  on  her  part,  to 
gather  up  later  his  note-books  and  papers  with  which 
she  has  worked  through  the  changing  seasons  since 
his  death  to  build  him  a  monument, —  not  indeed  like 
the  shaft  to  bear  his  name  that  Albanians  have  pro- 
jected, and  which  she  hopes  some  day  will  take 
shape  to  adorn  their  capital  city  —  not  like  the  sub- 
stantial granite  stone  of  sarcophagus  shape  that 
marks  his  grave  in  Greenridge  Cemetery,  at  Saratoga 
Springs  —  not  like  the  greatest  of  his  monuments, 


In  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death.  337 

the  church  ho  built  to  the  honor  of  God  under  the 
patronage  of  St.  Mary.  Long  may  it  stand  to  keep 
in  memory  and  in  motion  the  good  works  of  which 
he  laid  a  foundation,  sure  and  strong,  for  the  lasting 
betterment  of  souls  in  old  Albany !  No !  Like  none 
of  these,  is  the  volume  of  remembrance  she  has 
planned,  and  here  brings  to  a  close.  There  is  neither 
granite  nor  brick  in  its  make-up.  Neither  is  it  of 
one  solid  piece,  nor  even  strongly  mortised  together. 
But  for  all  that  it  was  undertaken  in  a  spirit  of  lov- 
ing veneration ;  time  and  effort  have  been  given  to 
the  garnering  and  use  of  his  life  records ;  sentence  has 
been  added  to  sentence  and  chapter  to  chapter,  as 
opportunity  offered  and  as  health  permitted  until  the 
plan,  as  first  blocked  out,  has  been  carried  on  to  com- 
pletion. Whatever  the  public  may  read  or  leave  un- 
read, may  say  or  leave  unsaid  about  this  series  of 
sketches,  the  author  can  still  hold  to  a  simple  state- 
ment of  her  own.  This  work  is  her  monument  to 
Father  Walworth.  Poor  little  pen  monument 
though  it  be,  it  is  the  best  that  she  could  build. 

Let  us  who  here  witness  its  completion  inscribe 
upon  it  a  few  of  his  own  lines,  those  that  follow  his 
description  of  our  tall  northern  pine  trees.  Let  us 
cut  them  large  and  clear,  that  the  fragrance  of  his 
thought  may  still  be  with  us.  We  will  choose  for 
our  purpose  these: 

Where  all  glides  to  one  night. 
What  value  has  fame  in  the  flignt? 

Brief  life !    Brief  record  after  death  1 
Yet  happy  I,  could  this  be  mine:  — 
A  life  as  lofty  as  the  pine, 

And  balmy  as  its  breath. 


CONCLUSION 


F»ART  I 


FUNERAL  AND  OBITUARY  NOTICES 

As  printed  in  the  Albany  newspapers. 
(From  the  Times-Union,  Saturday,  Sept.  22,   1900.) 

FINAL  HONOR  TO  FATHER  WALWORTH 

PRIEST  AND  LAYMEN   GRIEVE  AT   HIS   BIER. 
ELOQUENT   EULOGY   OF  HIS  NOBLE   LIFE. 

Closing  Scene  at  Old  St.  Mary's  where  He  Labored  so 
Long  and  so  Well  —  Common  Council  Takes  Official 
Action  —  Memorial  Service  to  be  Held  Under  its  Aus- 
pices. 

Funeral  services  over  the  remains  of  Father  Clarence  A. 
Walworth  were  held  to-day  at  St.  Mary's  Church,  which  for 
so  many  years  had  been  the  scene  of  the  priest's  labors.  They 
possessed  all  the  solemnity  and  impressiveness  of  Catholic 
ceremonial  and  were  a  befitting  tribute  to  the  close  of  a  long 
and  useful  life.  His  brother  priests  of  the  diocese,  city 
officials  and  prominent  Albanians,  his  parishioners,  many  of 
whom  had  been  within  the  pale  of  his  guiding  influence  from 
the  cradle,  gathered  in  the  old  edifice  to  attest  their  deep 
regard  for  him  and  to  bear  witness  to  the  final  honors  paid 
to   his  earthlv  career. 

The  solemn  mass  of  requiem,  the  prayers  for  the  dead,  the 
eloquent  eulogy,  constituting  the  ceremony,  were  most  im- 
pressive. The  eulogy  was  a  high  tribute  to  the  grand  and 
noble  life  of  the  deceased  and  its  great  accomplishments.  It 
sank  deep  in  the  hearts  of  the  vast  congregation  and  intensi- 
fied the  sorrow  experienced  by  many  a  heart. 

After  the  services  the  remains  were  borne  to  the  D.  &  H. 
depot  and  taken  by  train  to  Saratoga  Springs,  and  there  con- 


Funeral  and  Obituary  Notices.         339 

signed  to  their  final  resting-place,  amid  the  scenes  of  Father 
Walworth's  childhood  and  among  those  who  best  knew  the 
name  and  family  upon  whom  his  life  shed  honor  and  renown. 

Remains,  in  State. 

The  remains  were  laid  in  state  in  the  church  late  yesterday 
afternoon.  Clad  in  full  priestly  vestments,  they  reposed  in 
an  open  casket  resting  on  a  catafalque  before  the  main  altar. 
In  the  hand  rested  the  "  Chalice  of  Life  " —  the  expression 
of  the  priestly  function. 

The  casket  was  covered  with  black  cloth  and  the  plate  was 
inscribed  as  follows:  "1820-1900.  Died  Sept.  19,  1900,  Rev. 
Clarence  A.  Walworth,  LL.  D."  The  altar  had  its  anti- 
pendium  of  black  and  the  pulpit  and  railings  of  the  galleries 
were  festooned  with  the  same  sombre  drapings. 

The  remains  were  escorted  to  the  church  by  a  large  number 
of   priests,  who  chanted  the   "  Miserere." 

The  pall-bearers  were  the  church  committee,  Messrs.  James 
Allen,  P.  H.  McQuade,  Patrick  Murray,  Harvey  T.  V.  Harri- 
gan,  Daniel  J.  Hartnett,  Joseph  J.  McMullen,  James  H.  Cas- 
sidy,  John  Murtaugh,  William  E.  Walsh  and  Richard  J. 
Joyce.  The  bearers  were  members  of  the  Young  Men's 
Sodality  of  St.  Mary's  parish,  and  were  John  V.  Wallace, 
Michael  J.  Gillooly,  James  Keeshan,  Edward  Cotter,  John  T. 
Kelly  and  John  A.  Welden. 

Services  in  the  church  followed  the  priests'  chanting  of 
prayers  for  the  dead.  Throughout  the  night  the  casket  was 
guarded  by  members  of  the  Young  Men's  Sodality  of  the 
church  and  the  remains  were  viewed  by  a  large  number  of 
Albanians. 

Common  Council  Takes  Action. 

While  the  features  of  the  priest  were  being  viewed  within 
the  solemn  precincts  of  the  church  the  city  legislature,  the 
common  council,  was  in  session  one  block  away  giving  public 
official  expression  to  the  general  sorrow  and  regret  experienced 
by  citizens,  without  regard  to  creed  or  station. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  take  official  action  and  eulogistic 
remarks  were  made  by  President  Fitzgerald,  and  Aldermen 
Thompson  and  Leddy. 


340     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Resolutions  of  Regret. 

Alderman  Thompson  introduced  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  unanimously  adopted: 

"  The  common  council  have  to-day  convened  to  honor  the 
dead. 

"  Such  has  been  the  life  and  character  of  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Clarence  A.  Walworth,  for  more  than  thirty  years  in  this 
city,  that  although  this  branch  of  the  city  government  rarely, 
if  ever,  have  been  called  together  to  pass  eulogies  upon  any 
but  a  public  official,  yet  this  reverend  gentleman  had  attained 
to  such  public  eminence  as  a  promoter  of  good  city  and  State 
government  (the  greatest  among  his  labors  being  to  better  the 
estate  of  the  intemperate  poor  of  our  city),  it  has  been  deemed 
appropriate  that  this  council,  representing  all  the  people  of 
the  capital  city,  irrespective  of  church  or  creed,  should  give 
some  expression  to  sentiments  occasioned  by  the  loss  of  30 
valuable  and  beloved  a  citizen.  To-day  the  high  as  well  as  the 
lowly  among  this  large  population  stand  ready  to  do  honor  to 
the  memory  of  this  pre-eminent  worker  in  the  labor  of  reform, 
good  citizenship  and  good  government.     Therefore, 

"  Be  it  resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Rev.  Clarence  A.  Wal- 
worth, this  city  loses  a  most  eminent  figure  among  the  clergy 
of  Albany,  because  of  his  active  life  not  only  as  a  missioner 
and  as  rector  of  the  oldest  church  of  his  faith  in  our  city, 
for  so  many  years,  but  as  a  zealous  and  public-spirited 
citizen,  ever  ready  to  promote  any  reform  or  advance  the 
good  in  municipal  government,  as  well  as  being  watchful  and 
active  in  many  questions  before  the  Legislature  of  this  State 
affecting  this  city,  intended  to  correct  the  habits  and  char- 
acter of  the  people. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  his  death  this  city  loses  a  great  friend, 
and  such  was  his  position  among  the  people  that  his  place 
will  never  again  be  filled.  Such  were  his  qualifications  as 
a  citizen  of  his  worldly  estate,  his  noble  nature  and  magnetic 
influence,  that  he  was  peculiarly  fitted  as  a  clergyman  to 
accomplish  a  great  deal  for  his  fellow  men,  and  his  loss  will 
long  be  mourned  by  the  people  of  Albany. 

"  Resolved,  That  this  council,  as  such,  attend  his  funeral." 

Alderman  Thompson  moved  that  a  committee  of  five  be 
appointed,  of  which  the  president  should  be  chairman,  to  act 


Funeral  and  Obituary  Notices.         341 

in  conjunction  with  the  citizens'  committee  appointed  by  the 
mayor  to  arrange  for  public  memorial  services  in  honor  of 
the  dead  priest.  The  following  were  appointed:  President 
Thomas  D.  Fitzgerald,  chairman;  Aldermen  Thompson,  Keeler, 
Leddy  and  Carr. 

The  Funeral. 

St.  Mary's  Church  never  contained  a  larger  or  sadder  con- 
gregation than  that  which  assembled  to  pay  the  last  tribute 
of  honor  to  the  distinguished  dead.  The  church  was  dressed 
in  the  sombre  garb  of  mourning,  the  altars,  the  chancel  rail, 
and  the  heavy  columns  were  clad  in  the  midnight  hue  of 
death.  The  subdued  light  through  the  stained  glass  windows, 
the  flickering  glare  of  the  many  tapers,  the  deep  chant  of 
priests  and  choir,  the  solemn  silence  that  reigned  among  the 
congregation,  all  told  of  the  awful  presence  of  death. 

The  remains  rested  before  the  main  altar  throughout  the 
ceremony,  which  began  at  9.30  o'clock.  Within  the  sanctuary 
were  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Gabriels,  of  Ogdensburg;  Dean  Duffy,  of 
Rensselaer,  and  a  number  of  other  clergymen.  Priests  to  the 
number  of  sixty  occupied  the  pews  of  the  center  aisle  near  the 
catafalque.  The  relatives  of  Father  Walworth,  who  had  come 
from  Saratoga  and  Schenectady  on  the  early  morning  trains, 
sat  to  the  right  of  the  center  aisle.  Mayor  Blessing,  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Safety  Ham,  Commissioner  of  Public 
Works  Bissell,  Comptroller  Gallien,  and  the  other  heads  of 
city  departments,  together  with  the  president  and  members  of 
the  common  council  and  prominent  citizens  sat  to  the  left. 
Members  of  religious  orders  occupied  pews  to  the  rear  of  these, 
and  the  Young  Ladies'  Sodality,  the  Young  Men's  Sodality 
and  other  church  societies  attended  in  a  body. 

The  solemn  office  of  the  dead  was  chanted  by  the  priests  of 
the  diocese  at  the  opening  of  the  service.  It  was  led  by 
Father  O'Brien  of  Sandy  Hill  and  Fathers  Walsh  and  Lynch 
of  the  Cathedral.  This  part  of  the  service  occupied  nearly 
one  hour  and  was  most  impressive. 

It  was  followed  by  a  solemn  mass  of  requiem  celebrated  by 
Very  Rev.  John  J.  Swift,  vicar-general  of  the  diocese  and 
pastor  of  St.  Patrick's  Church,  Troy.  The  deacon  was  Rev. 
John    J.    McDonald,    of    St.    Patrick's    Church,    Binghamton; 


342     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

sub-deacon,  Rev.  James  Blumer  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul's 
Church,  Canajoharie;  master  of  ceremonies,  Rev.  Joseph  H. 
Fitzgerald,  chancellor  of  the  diocese,  and  assistant  master  of 
ceremonies,  Rev.  Father  Judge,  one  of  Father  Walworth's 
assistants  at  St.  Mary's  Church.  The  musical  features  of  the 
service  were  very  impressive. 

The  Eulogy. 
The  eulogy  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Patrick  H.  McDermott, 
of  St.  Bridget's  Church,  Watervliet,  formerly  an  assistant  to 
Father  Walworth  at  St.  Mary's.  Among  other  things  he  said: 
"  It  is  no  wonder  that  so  great  a  throng  comes  to  pay  rever- 
ence at  the  bier  of  Father  Walworth.  His  brother  clergy 
come  from  afar  to  bid  the  last  farewell  to  their  priestly 
brother.  The  rnavor  and  officials  of  this  citv  and  its  fellow 
citizens  are  here  to  pay  him  homage.  Of  the  ancestry  of 
Father  Walworth,  of  the  long  line  of  celebrated  personages 
who  have  been  members  of  his  family,  let  another  speak. 
Albany  saw  him  for  the  first  time  some  seventy  years  ago  as 
a  member  of  the  Albany  Boys'  Academy,  where,  under  the 
tutorship  of  Dr.  Beck,  he  received  his  early  education.  At 
Union  College  we  find  him  a  leader  among  the  students  and 
giving  evidence  of  his  future  greatness.  Here  he  studied  law 
and  laid  the  foundation  for  his  future  career.  He  was  a 
hard  student  and  went  to  the  depths  of  any  branch  of  knowl- 
edge he  undertook  to  master.  His  examinations  were  brilliant 
efforts.  What  young  man  ever  entered  the  noble  profession 
of  the  law  with  brighter  prospects?  In  that  profession  his 
career  would  certainly  have  been  brilliant,  but  a  thirst  for 
greater  knowledge  drew  him  to  a  study  of  higher  things.  His 
religious  principles  were  then  unfixed.  He  studied  Calvin, 
and  the  theory  of  that  school,  but  was  not  satisfied.  He 
pursued  his  theological  studies  until  he  determined  that  he 
should  return  to  the  faith  of  his  fathers  and  join  the  Catholic 
Church.  As  a  minister  of  the  Church  he  was  a  shining  light. 
His  ministry  in  England  was  full  of  consolation.  He  worked 
in  the  foremost  ranks  of  the  Oxford  movement,  which  was  the 
means  of  drawing  so  many  back  into  the  fold  of  Catholicity. 
As  a  missionary  in  this  country  his  labors  were  phenomenal. 
He  began  his  work  when  primitive  conditions  prevailed:  when 
the  canal  boat  was  the  system  of  rapid  transit.  As  a  mis- 
sionary he  had  few  equals. 


Funeral  and  Obituary  Notices.         343 

"  His  preaching  was  eloquent.  His  thought  was  deep,  his 
language  graceful  and  his  oratory  of  great  power  and  force. 
A  few  years  ago  I  met  a  man  in  Schenectady  who  repeated 
to  me  the  substance  of  a  sermon  he  heard  Father  Walworth 
deliver  thirty-five  years  before.  This  is  but  an  illustration 
of  the  power  of  his  utterance.  His  words  burned  into  the 
souls  of  his  hearers  and  lived  while  memory  lasted.  That 
is  true  eloquence  —  when  a  man  preaches  the  word  of  God, 
the  promise  of  good,  and  it  is  understood,  remembered  and 
kept. 

"  In  this  diocese  he  has  worked  as  a  faithful  priest.  Of  the 
beauties  of  his  character,  of  the  effects  of  his  efforts  upon  the 
letters  of  the  day,  of  his  wondrous  interest  in  science,  of  his 
deep  theology,  of  his  brilliant  style  as  a  writer  and  a  speaker, 
of  his  success  in  the  many  fields  of  thought,  let  his  biographer 
speak. 

"I  bid  you  to  consider  his  faith  —  how  it  came  to  him  and 
how  he  kept  it.  He  did  not  embrace  Catholicity  in  a  day; 
he  came  to  it  gradually.  After  having  studied  various  reli- 
gions and  denominations  he  embraced  the  Episcopal  faith, 
where  he  found  an  opportunity  to  have  higher  sentiment  for 
God  and  better  thought  for  man.  But  he  was  not  the  man 
to  stand  half  way  between  the  Protestant  and  the  old  faith. 
He  never  did  anything  by  halves.  What  he  did  he  did  thor- 
oughly, and  that  is  true  of  his  efforts  to  find  religious  con- 
solation. He  became  a  Catholic.  When  he  accepted  the  old 
faith  it  was  with  the  cry  of  joy  which  comes  to  the  imprisoned 
intellect  at  the  revelation  of  truth.  When  Clarence  Walworth 
knew  that  faith  he  embraced  it  and  it  became  a  part  of  him 
until  his  death.  He  abandoned  himself  to  it.  He  gave  to  it 
his  best  thought  and  action  and  his  many  years  of  life.  The 
energies  of  his  soul  were  stirred  that  it  might  be  propagated. 
He  left  family  and  sacrificed  worldly  achievements,  which 
through  the  brilliancy  of  his  intellect  might  have  been  his, 
and  gave  his  life  to  the  service  of  his  God  and  his  fellow  men. 
He  never  found  it  necessary  to  apologize  for  what  he  did, 
or  to  be  ashamed  of  the  step  he  had  taken.  He  kept  his 
faith,  not  only  as  an  intellectual  life;  it  became  to  him  part 
of  his  nature.  While  he  spoke  and  wrote  of  the  most  sublime 
truths  and  mysteries  of  religion,  his  faith  was  as  that  of  a 
little  child,  simple  and  innocent. 


344     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

"  His  end  was  peaceful.  He  died  with  the  knowledge  that 
his  life  had  been  well  spent  and  had  been  productive  both  to 
himself  and  his  fellow  men.  He  had  tried  to  better  humanity 
and  serve  his  God  faithfully,  and  in  both  he  had  succeeded. 
He  loved  the  Church  and  her  ceremonials.  He  loved  the  beauty 
of  her  service.  You  have  heard  to-day  the  solemn  requiem 
that  has  been  sung  above  his  ashes.  He  loved  the  people  of 
his  congregation  and  especially  the  children,  and  Centennial 
Hall  stands  on  his  gift  to  them  and  those  of  the  future. 

"  It  is  needless  for  me  to  tell  you  to  remember  him.  All 
Albany  that  knew  him  will  do  that.  His  memory  will  be 
associated  with  that  of  the  events  of  your  early  life.  You 
will  think  of  the  man  who,  as  your  pastor,  guarded  you  and 
watched  over  your  development  with  priestly  care,  preaching 
to  you  the  truths  and  consolations  of  your  religion  and  aiding 
you  in  the  hour  of  sorrow  and  distress.  You  will  remember 
him  and  pray  for  him,  and  his  memory  will  be  a  blessed 
benediction  to  you.  May  the  High  Priest,  Jesus  Christ,  re- 
ceive this  worthy  priest  and  grant  to  him  eternal  peace  and 

joy." 

Interment  at  Saratoga. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  high  mass  the  remains  were 
blessed  and  the  final  prayers  for  the  dead  were  chanted.  The 
clergy,  city  officials  and  others  who  had  not  seen  the  remains 
viewed  them  and  the  casket  was  closed.  The  body  was  borne 
to  the  train  and  conveyed  to  Saratoga  Springs,  where  it  was 
interred  at  Greenridge  Cemetery.  Many  of  the  priests  accom- 
panied it. 

LETTERS  FROM  THE  PEOPLE. 
The  Late  Father  Walworth. 

To   the   Times-Union: 

The  most  impressive,  beautiful  and  solemn  sight  it  has 
been  my  privilege  to  witness  was  the  funeral  of  Rev.  Facher 
Walworth  on  Saturday.    It  was  a  just  tribute  to  a  noble  man. 

They  were  two  grand  old  men  —  Gladstone  and  Walworth. 
I  never  quite  understood  the  good  father.  In  fact  I  always 
thought  him  cold  and  unapproachable  until  I  met  him  a  few 
years  ago  in  a  business  way;  then  I  discovered  his  humble 
simplicity,  genial  manner  and  kindness  of  heart.  I  have 
loved  him  ever  since. 


Funeral  and  Obituary  Notices.         345 

Let  me  say  a  few  words  for  his  faithful  assistant,  Rev. 
John  J.  Dillon,  who  has  labored  zealously  since  his  coming  to 
St.  Mary's  to  bring  the  church  to  its  present  state  of  com- 
pletion and  artistic  beauty.  Last,  but  not  least,  by  any  means, 
he  built  the  handsome  school  and  thus  satisfied  Father  Wal- 
worth's last  ambition.  B. 

FURTHER  DETAILS  OF  THE  FUNERAL. 
(From  the  Argus,  September  23,  1900.) 

With  all  the  solemnity  and  pomp  of  the  ritual  of  the 
Church,  the  last  services  for  the  dead  were  conducted  yester- 
day morning  over  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  late  Rev.  Clar- 
ence A.  Walworth,  rector  of  St.  Mary's  at  the  church  where 
his  ministrations  had  covered  over  a  third  of  a  century. 

Throughout  the  night  the  remains  were  viewed  by  thou- 
sands of  people,  and  the  throng  embraced  adherents  of  all 
creeds,  who  admired  the  earnest  man  and  the  patriotic  citi- 
zen. They  came  in  droves  from  all  parts  of  the  city,  unmind- 
ful of  the  fact  that  he  had  been  a  priest  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  not  thinking  of  the  doctrines  he  held  as  a  minister  of 
that  Church,  but  anxious  to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect 
to  the  man  who  had  all  his  life  stood  for  the  highest  ideal  of 
citizenship,  and  who  fearlessly  battled  for  the  moral  uplifting 
of  the  whole  community. 

The  solemn  and  touching  office  of  the  dead  was  chanted  by 
the  priests  of  the  diocese. 

On  a  Saturday,  when  parish  duties  are  multitudinous,  it 
was  a  striking  instance  of  the  respect  and  esteem  in  which  the 
dead  priest  was  held  to  see  the  large  number  of  the  clergy 
at  the  final  services.  Over  100  of  them  were  in  attendance, 
and  many  came  at  a  great  sacrifice  of  time  and  comfort  from 
distant  parts.  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Henry  Gabriels,  of  Ogdens- 
burg,  who  was  present,  was  formerly  vicar-general  of  the 
Albany  diocese,  and  president  of  St.  Joseph's  Provincial  Sem- 
inary when  that  institution  was  located  in  Troy. 

Besides  the  delegation  of  secular  clergy  from  this  and  other 
dioceses,  there  were  present  many  Franciscans,  Augustinians, 
Jesuits,  Redemptorists,  and  Paulists.  Conspicuous  among  the 
clergy  in  attendance  was  Very  Rev.  George  Deshon,  C.  S.  P., 


346     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Superior  of  the  Congregation  of  Missionary  Priests  of  St.  Paul 
the  Apostle,  the  roommate  of  General  Grant  while  the  latter 
was  studying  at  the  West  Point  Academy;  and,  the  only  sur- 
viving member  of  the  band  of  Redemptorists  who  founded  the 
Paidists.  Father  Deshon  and  Father  Walworth  continued  the 
close  personal  friendship  formed  in  the  days  of  long  ago,  and 
as  the  years  made  inroads  on  the  health  of  the  latter,  this 
friendship  was  cemented. 

The  church  was  crowded  to  the  doors  with  the  parishioners, 
hundreds  of  whom  had  been  baptized  by  the  dead  priest,  many 
of  whom  had  been  married  by  him,  and  still  others  who  could 
recall  his  officiating  at  the  last  rites  over  those  whom  they 
held  dearest. 

There  were  also  present  a  number  of  the  pastors  of  churches 
of  other  denominations  in  the  city,  prominent  among  whom 
was  the  Rev.  Walton  W.  Battershall,*  rector  of  St.  Peter's 
Episcopal  church  and  a  life-long  friend  and  admirer  of  Father 
Walworth.     *     *     * 

FATHER  WALWORTH'S  BOOK  OF  POEMS. 

(From  the  Argus,  September  23,  1900.) 

Volume  Published  by  the  Putnams  in  1888  Portrays  the 
Max  Behind  the  Priestly  Robe  —  Glimpses  of  a  Good 
Man's  Inner  Life  —  Love  of  Xature  a  Striking  Trait  — 
''Andiatorocte." 

From  the  city  street  is  gone  a  familiar  picture  of  recent 
years  —  a  patriarchal  old  man  of  towering  figure  and  thought- 
seamed  face,  leaning  with  the  pathetic  feebleness  of  age  on 
the  shoulder  of  a  faithful  black  boy. 

There  was  something  of  distinction  in  the  face  that  brought 
forth  a  question  from  the  newer  resident  —  the  older  knew 
him  well  —  and  the  answer  was:  "Father  Walworth." 

Clarence  A.  Walworth,  ripe  with  years  and  honors,  who 
died  last  week  and  for  whom  yesterday  bells  tolled  solemnly 
and  the  city  mourned,  as  the  funeral  cortege  passed,  was  a 
priest,   a  scholar   and  a  poet.     The   newspapers  have  written 


*It  is  to  be  regretted  that  no  copy  is  at  hand  of  this  friend's  touching 
eulogy  of  Father  Walworth,  given  in  his  own  Church  of  St.  Peter,  on  a 
Sunday  soon  after  the  funeral.  It  was  counted  anions;  the  very 
best,  by  those  who  heard  it.  E.  H.  W. 


Funeral  and  Obituary  Notices.         347 

his  obituary  in  long  columns.  He  lived  beyond  the  usual 
length  of  men.  He  came  of  a  historic  family.  His  nature 
was  fuller  of  force  and  fire  and  the  passions  that  shape  great 
thoughts  and  noble  deeds  than  the  nature  of  most  men.  In 
his  youth  he  grasped  life  wholly,  and  the  tenacity  of  it  was 
with  him  to  the  last.  He  lived ;  his  experience  touched  many 
lands  and  men  of  many  minds.  His  religious  convictions  came 
as  such  things  come  to  poets,  and  he  cast  aside  the  traditions 
of  family  and  became  a  Catholic  priest.  Father  Walworth's 
strenuous  part  in  the  great  Paulist  movement  is  history. 
His  life  in  Albany,  as  rector  of  old  St.  Mary's  Church,  beloved 
by  the  community,  sought  by  scholars,  with  friends  of  every 
creed,  is  the  memory  that  is  left  to  the  city.  Some  of  the 
older  generation  knew  him  well ;  but  to  the  younger  he  became 
a  historic  landmark  and  a  tradition  of  greatness.  Few  Al- 
banians could  name  his  books  by  title  —  "The  Gentle 
Skeptic;"  his  "Ghosts,"  in  reply  to  Col.  Ingersoll's  famous 
lecture,*  and,  finally,  "Andiatorocte,  or  the  Eve  of  Lady  Day 
on  Lake  George  and  Other  Poems,  Hymns  and  Meditations  in 
Verse,"  as  the  title  page  puts  it. 

There  is  no  portrait  drawn  with  lines,  with  light  and  shade, 
through  the  cunning  skill  of  photography,  cast  into  electrotype 
and  printed  on  the  press  of  the  Argus  in  this  morning's 
] taper,  that  could  as  genuinely  reflect  the  man  as  does  this 
book  of  poems  published  by  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons  of  New 
York  in  1888.  Father  Walworth  was  a  poet  before  he  was  a 
priest,  and  it  is  in  his  verse  that  the  man  stands  forth.  Be- 
hind the  priestly  robe  of  which  he  wrote  one  can  look  into 
the  soul  of  a  good  and  great-thoughted  man;  not  with  idle 
curiosity,  but  with  an  appreciation  of  the  type  of  man  who 
lived  so  long  as  part  of  the  life  and  the  work  of  the 
community. 

"Andiatorocte  '-   is  almost  Wordsworthian  in  its  meditation 
on  nature  and  its  beauty  of  description. 


*  "Ghosts,"  a  Lecture  by  Father  Walworth,  was  issued  in  pamphlet 
form,  Albany,  Times  Company  Print,  1878  (pp.  12). 


348     Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

TRIBUTE  OF  A  YOUNG  PRIEST. 

(From    the    Daily   Press-Knickerbocker   and   Albany    Morning 
Express,  September  24,  1900.) 

Many  of  the  Members  of  St.  Mary's  Congregation  Were  in 
Tears  Yesterday  as  They  Listened  to  Father  Judge's 
Eulogy  of  Their  Late  Pastor. 

A  large  congregation  was  present  at  the  10.30  o'clock  Mass 
yesterday  morning  in  St.  Mary's  Church.  The  Rev.  Father 
Judge  ascended  the  pulpit  and  took  occasion  to  deliver  a 
ritting  eulogy  upon  the  late  Father  Walworth.  Rev.  Father 
Judge  said  in  part :  "  I  am  sure  that  the  people  of  this  parish 
must  have  learned  with  sincere  regret  of  the  death  of  Father 
Walworth.  I  do  not  believe  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to 
add  anything  by  way  of  eulogy  to  what  has  already  been  said 
within  the  past  few  days;  but  nevertheless  I  feel  that  I  would 
not  be  doing  my  duty  as  a  priest  of  this  parish  were  I  merely 
to  announce  his  death  and  say  nothing  more. 

"  Father  Walworth  was  pre-eminently  a  gentleman,  a  pro- 
found scholar,  and  a  saintly  priest.  For  a  long  time  before 
his  death  he  had  been  estranged  from  you,  but  this  estrange- 
ment came  not  through  his  own  volition,  but  by  the  hand 
of  God.  In  this,  however,  we  can  see  manifested  the  mercy 
and  goodness  of  God.  During  this  forced  retirement  he  had 
an  opportunity  to  prepare  for  that  which  came  to  pass  dur- 
ing the  week  just  closed. 

"  You  probably  knew  him  better  than  I,  because  your  ac- 
quaintance with  him  was  longer.  For  three  years,  however, 
I  lived  with  him  and  I  know  that  he  led  a  saintly  life. 

'Already  I  have  told  you  Father  Walworth  was  a  gentleman. 
His  dignified  and  noble  bearing  won  for  him  the  respect  and 
admiration  of  all.  He  was  also  public-spirited  and  broad- 
minded  and  took  an  active  interest  in  everything  that  tended 
to  the  betterment  of  his  fellow  man. 

••  Father  Walworth  was  a  profound  scholar.  When  he  as- 
cended this  pulpit  and  announced  to  you  the  word  of  God 
you  marvelled  at  his  eloquence,  learning  and  deep  insight 
into  things  spiritual.  Above  all  he  was  a  saintly  priest.  I 
have  known  him  to  rise  at  an  early  hour  in  midwinter  and 


Funeral  and  Obituary  Notices.         349 

come  out  into  this  church  and  assist  at  the  holy  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass.  Through  age  and  infirmity  he  was  deprived  of  the 
consolation  of  ottering  Mass  himself. 

"  Father  Walworth  was  esteemed  not  only  by  the  members 
of  this  parish,  but  also  by  the  citizens  of  Albany,  regardless 
of  creed.  The  Rev.  Father  Walworth  is  with  us  no  more, 
though  his  remains  rest  in  the  cemetery  of  a  neighboring  vil- 
lage. 1  am  sure,  however,  that  your  memory  of  him  will 
not  fail  with  the  interment  of  his  body,  that  your  prayers 
will  arise  to  the  throne  of  God  so  that  his  soul  may  find 
eternal  rest." 

The  eulogy  was  listened  to  with  great  attention  on  the 
part  of  the  congregation,  many  of  whom  were  in  tears  before 
the  closing  sentence  was  preached. 


PART  II 


HONORED  BY  ALBANY 

An    Account    of    a   Meeting    Held    March    21,  1901, 

Under  the  Auspices  of  a  Citizens*  Committee 

and  the  Common  Council. 


TRIBUTE  OF  FELLOW  CITIZENS  TO  THE  MEM- 
ORY OF  FATHER  WALWORTH. 

(From  the  Argus,  Albany,  March  22,  1901.) 

Memorial  Services  Held  Last  Evening  at  Odd  Fellows' 
Hall  —  Some  Eloquent  Addresses  Made  —  Men  of  All 
Creeds  and  Classes  Unite  to  Pay  Honor  to  the  Memory 
of  a  Noble  Priest  —  The  Program. 

Rev.  Clarence  Augustus  Walworth,  rector  of  St.  Mary's 
Church  for  34  years. —  Born  at  Plattsburg,  May  30,  1820;  died 
at  Albany,  September  19,  1900. 


Memorial  services  to  honor  the  memory  of  the  late  Rev. 
Clarence  A.  Walworth  were  held  last  evening  at  Odd  Fellows' 
Hall.  The  exercises  were  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  character 
of  a  man  whom  every  citizen  of  Albany,  regardless  of  race 
or  creed,  felt  a  pleasure  in  honoring.  Those  who  belonged 
to  the  faith  he  professed  were  there  in  goodly  numbers,  but 
they  showed  no  more  eagerness  to  pay  him  honor  than  did 
the  citizens  of  other  creeds.  The  head  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  Albany  esteemed  it  a  privilege  to  stand  on  the  same  plat- 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth.     351 

form  with  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  Albany  and 
speak  words  of  praise  of  the  man  whose  broad  mind  and 
great  heart  was  always  working  for  the  uplifting  of  his 
fellow  man.  The  addresses  were  masterful  and  the  whole 
affair  was  conducted  without  a  single  hitch. 
The  services  were  in  charge  of  the  following: 

CITIZENS'  COM  M I TTEE.—  Dr.  Samuel  B.  Ward,  chairman ; 
Frederick  E.  Wadhams,  secretary :  Mayor  Blessing,  William  L. 
Learned,  John  Boyd  Thacher,  Charles  Tracey,  Amasa  J.  Parker, 
Rev.  Dr.  Max  Sehlesinger,  Rev.  W.  W.  Battershall,  John  W. 
McNamara,  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  G.  Selden,  Michael  Delehanty, 
Rev.  Alfred  H.  Eaton,  Michael  F.  Walsh,  Patrick  H.  Connors, 
James  F.  Tracey,  Benjamin  W.  Arnold,  Anthony  N.  Brady, 
Edward  J.  Hussey,  Alden  Chester,  William  F.  Winship,  Wil- 
liam P.  Rudd,  Frederick  E.  Wadhams,  Dudley  Olcott,  Thomas 
J.  Lanahan,  Charles  M.  Stuart,  Dr.  Albert  Vander  Veer, 
Marcus  T.  Hun,  John  G.  Myers,  James  McCredie,  John  T. 
Norton,  Peter  Kinnear,  James  B.  Lyon,  James  H.  Manning, 
Wheeler  B.  Melius,  Hugh  Hastings,  Peter  J.  Flinn,  Richard 
B.  Rock,  Henry  W.  Garfield,  Chauncey  E.  Argersinger, 
Leonard  Kip,  Samuel  S.  Hatt,  Frederick  Tillinghast,  Dr. 
Edward  G.  Cox,  John  D.  Parsons,  Jr. 

COMMON  COUNCIL  COMMITTEE.—  Thomas  D.  Fitzgerald, 
Newton  W.  Thompson,  Joseph  F.  Leddy,  Ellsworth  Carr,  Peter 
Keeler,  James  Maloy. 

The  ushers  were  students  of  the  Boys'  Academy  and  Chris- 
tian Brothers'  Academy  in  uniform. 

The  hall  was  well  filled  with  a  representative  body  of 
Albanians  and  a  large  number  of  ladies  were  present.  The 
only  decorations  were  immense  palms  which  were  placed  on 
either  side  of  the  stage.  After  the  prelude  by  Gartland's 
orchestra  the  chairs  on  the  stage  were  taken  by  the  speakers 
and  others.  The  first  row  was  occupied  by  Rev.  Dr.  Sehlesin- 
ger, of  the  Temple  Beth  Emeth,  Mayor  Blessing,  Bishop  Burke, 
Bishop  Doane,  Father  Elliott,  Dr.  Ward,  Frederick  E.  Wad- 
hams, Wheeler  B.  Melius  and  Rev.  John  Dillon,  successor  of 
Father  Walworth  as  pastor  of  St.  Mary's.  Among  the  others 
on  the  stage  were  noticed  Judge  Denis  O'Brien,  of  the  Court 
of  Appeals,  former  Mayor  Van  Alstyne,  former  City  Engineer 


352  Honored  by  Albany. 

Andrews,  President  of  the  Common  Council  Thomas  D.  Fitz- 
gerald, County  Clerk  Patrick  E.  MeCabe,  Commissioner  of 
Public  Safety  Ham,  Commissioner  of  Public  Works  Bissell, 
Comptroller  Gallien,  Alderman  Barends  and  Gen.  Amasa  J. 
Parker. 

This  was  the  program: 

Music     Melody    in    F 

Praver  Rt.  Rev.  T.  M.  A.  Burke,  D.  D. 

Address   Rt.  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Doane,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D. 

Music    "  Prayer  "  from  Lohengrin 

Address    Mr.  Wheeler  B.  Melius 

Music   Flower  Song,  bv  Tobain 

Address Very  Rev.  Walter  Elliott/C.  S.  P., 

Rector,    St.    Thomas's    College,    Catholic    University, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
Music  — "  Priests'   March  "    Mendelssohn 

Dr.  Samuel  B.  Ward,  chairman  of  the  Citizens'  committee, 
presided  and  made  a  brief  address  before  introducing  Bishop 
Burke,  who  made  the  prayer.  All  stood  while  the  bishop 
prayed.  He  closed  by  repeating  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  every 
one  in  the  hall  could  distinctly  hear  Bishop  Doane,  who  stood 
beside  Bishop  Burke,  repeat  the  words  in  unison  with  the 
Catholic  bishop.  At  different  times  during  the  delivery  of  the 
addresses,  the  fervor  of  the  speakers  moved  the  audience  to 
applause. 

After  the  prayer  by  Bishop  Burke.  Dr.  Ward  introduced 
Bishop  Doane. 

BISHOP  DOANE'S  EULOGY. 

Sterling  Character  of  the  Departed. 

Bishop  Doane  said: 

It  is  my  privilege  to  speak  to  you  to-night  about  a  man 
who,  during  his  long  life,  was  among  the  most  useful,  and. 
in  the  time  to  come,  will  be  counted  among  the  most  honor- 
able citizens  of  this  old  city  of  Albany.  One  is  tempted  to 
claim  him  as  an  Albanian  because,  born  in  Plattsburg.  he 
was  educated  in  our  own  academy  and  graduated  from  our 
own    university    of    Union,    whose    roots    reach    out    from    its 


Life  Sketches  of  Fatheb  Wai. worth.     353 

nearby  location  and  strike  deep  into  our  city "^  soil.  Taking 
in  all  his  history,  he  was  in  touch  with  Albany  for  more 
than  seventy  years  of  his  long  life,  and  of  those  seventy 
years,  quite  half  were  spent  in  active  and  most  valuable 
service  to  the  best  civic  interests  of  the  city.  It  is  fitting 
and  just,  that,  merely  as  Albanians,  we  should  note  the  pass- 
ing out  of  our  public  life,  and  away  from  our  personal  rela- 
tions, of  a  man  who  found  here  the  planting  and  spent  here 
the  fruitage  of  his  mental  activities.  I  am  here  to-night, 
by  the  courtesy  of  the  committee  having  in  charge  these  com- 
memorative exercises.  I  am  here  upon  the  ground  of  fellow- 
citizenship  with  Clarence  Walworth,  quite  sure  that  he  recog- 
nized, as  I  do,  that  this  means,  as  St.  Paul  proudly  claimed 
of  Tarsus,  "  a  citizenship  of  no  mean  city." 

The  duty  has  been  assigned  to  another  of  speaking  about 
what,  naturally  and  necessarily,  is  the  larger  and  deeper  part 
of  Father  Walworth's  life,  namely,  his  service  as  a  priest  of 
the  Eoman  Catholic  Church;  known  for  his  eloquence  as  a 
preacher,  his  devotion  as  a  pastor,  the  builder  of  St.  Mary- 
church  and,  from  the  outside  view,  certainly  among  the  fore- 
most representatives  of  that  church  in  Albany.  Along  these 
lines  his  path  and  mine  diverged  absolutely  and  entirely,  with 
never.  I  am  glad  to  say,  a  thought  of  partisanship,  and  never 
a  failure  of  recognition  as  to  the  honest  sincerity  of  our  diver- 
gent convictions. 

It  is  more  than  thirty  years  ago  since  I  first  met  him 
here.  He  became  permanently  identified  with  Albany  just 
one  year  before  I  did,  thirty-five  years  ago,  and  we  were  good 
friends  through  all  those  years,  and  often,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
associated  in  important  interests  that  concerned  the  social 
and  moral  and  civic  advancement  of  the  city.  Older  than  I 
by  twelve  years,  he  was  in  the  prime  of  his  vitality  and  the 
fullness  of  his  energy  then,  and  it  is  hard  to  say  which  of  the 
two  figures  leave  the  longest  and  the  deepest  impression  on  the 
mind  —  the  erect  and  stalwart  strength  of  his  vigorous  man- 
hood or  the  picturesque  dignity  of  his  green  old  age,  as  he 
moved  slowly  along  our  streets  from  day  to  day,  his  arm 
thrown  over  Lem's  shoulder  —  the  faithful  colored  attendant 
and  companion  of  his  walks  —  bowed  with  the  weight  and 
silvered  with  the  honor  of  his  eighty  years. 


:].*)4  Honored  by  Albany. 

If  ever  any  man  combined  in  his  instincts  and  his  character 
two  things  sometimes  counted  antagnostic,  Father  Walworth 
was  that  man.  He  was  the  most  aristocratic  of  democrats 
and  the  most  democratic  of  aristocrats.  Knowing  nothing 
of  his  name  or  his  lineage,  it  would  have  been  plain  to  a 
casual  acquaintance  that  the  very  essence  of  the  grace  of 
good  breeding  permeated  his  nature  and  added  its  peculiar 
charm  to  his  intercourse  with  men.  In  the  Walworth  gene- 
alogy, which  he  compiled,  "  a  long  labor  and  an  uncongenial 
undertaking."  he  says,  he  traces  the  family  descent  to  one 
William  Walworth,  who  emigrated  to  America,  coming  from 
London  in  1689.  But  he  traces  back  his  name  and  his  descent 
three  centuries  farther,  to  1383,  when  Sir  William  Walworth 
was  Lord-Mayor  of  London  (in  the  reign  of  Richard  II  and  in 
the  time  of  the  Wat  Tyler  rebellion),  and  the  effigy  of  this 
Mayor,  the  first  illustration  in  "  The  Walworths  of  America," 
is  preserved  in  the  Guild  Hall  in  London.  Plainly  it  was  good 
stock,  with  breeding  in  it  and  instinct  for  distinction,  whether 
we  look  for  them  in  the  Lord-Mayor  of  London,  or  in  Father 
Walworth's  latest  progenitor,  the  distinguished  Chancellor  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  And  of  the  men  that  came  between 
these  two,  Father  Walworth  says,  commending  his  family 
historv  to  his  Walworth  kindred,  "  thev  will  not  find  manv 
distinguished  men  that  bore  this  family  name,  but  they  will 
find  a  goodly  number,  both  men  and  women,  who  have  been 
good  citizens  and  have  served  their  country  well.  We  have 
contributed  soldiers  to  our  country  in  war  time,  and  can 
show  our  martyrs,  and  the  family  has  lent  members  here 
and  there  to  the  law,  to  medicine,  to  divinity,  to  trade,  com- 
merce and  manufacturing." 

I  am  struck  with  two  suggestions  in  the  preface  of  this 
book  which  may  well  guide  me  to-night  in  dealing  with  my 
subject.  First,  that  the  crest  of  the  family  arms  was  an 
arm  grasping  a  dagger,  with  the  motto,  "  Strike  for  the 
Laws."  And,  secondly,  the  description  of  the  aim  of  his  own 
history  of  the  family.  "  I  have  not  aimed  to  present  the 
descendants  of  William  Walworth,  the  emigrant,  as  a  drill 
corps  of  dry  skeletons  or  spectres  rising  from  the  ground, 
remaining  in  sight  long  enough  to  beget  each  other,  and  then 
sinking  out  of  sight  again  like  grim  ghosts.     I  have  tried  to 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth.     355 

put  some  life  into  tlieni  where  history  or  tradition  would  give 
me  any  honest  flesh  to  put  on  them.  J  have  always  been 
glad  to  link  any  of  them  with  the  events  of  their  day.  One 
thing  above  all  1  do  love,  that  is  localization."  I  wish  to 
localize  Father  Walworth  here  in  Albany,  as  a  man  whose 
energies  were  guided  by  this  motto,  "  Strike  for  the  Laws." 
And,  so  far  as  may  be,  I  wish  to  tell  the  story  in  his  own 
words. 

Best  Service  Rendered. 

Perhaps  the  best  service  that  he  rendered  to  this  city  and 
the  State  was  in  striking  for  the  laws  upon  the  great  subject 
of  temperance.  "  Earnest,  stormy  and  full  of  work,"  his  life 
has  been  described  by  the  preacher  at  the  service  of  his 
burial.  And  he  struck  in  both  directions,  first  for  the  enact- 
ment, and  then  for  the  enforcement  of  wise  laws.  When 
Father  Walworth  began  what  we  might  well  call  this  crusade, 
the  condition  of  things  in  society  was  widely  different  from 
what  it  is  to-day,  and  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  statement 
that  he  was  often  "  urged  to  discontinue  his  sermons  and 
lectures  on  temperance  for  both  private  and  political  reasons." 
Drunkenness  in  those  days  was  neither  so  disreputable  nor 
so  unusual  as,  thank  God,  it  is  to-day,  certainly  among 
prominent  and  influential  people.  And  even  more  than  now, 
at  that  time,  the  thought  of  temperance  was  identified  with 
what  was  supposed  to  be  its  only  meaning  and  its  only  direc- 
tion, namely,  total  abstinence.  I  believe  that  Father  Wal- 
worth organized  the  Total  Abstinence  Society  for  his  own 
people  on  the  sane  and  sound  ground  that  nothing  else  can 
save  some  men  and  women,  to  whom  moderation  (always  the 
most  difficult  of  graces  and  attainments)  is  an  impossibility. 
But  he  never  lent  his  influence  to  the  extreme  views  of  the 
prohibitionists,  and  while  I  can  well  believe  that  as  a  preacher 
he  directed  all  the  force  of  his  eloquent  warning  and  pleading 
against  the  disgusting  and  degrading  vice  of  drunkenness,  I 
know  that  in  his  constant  efforts  about  the  laws  which  could 
control  and  restrain  the  most  dangerous  temptation  of  drink, 
he  was  wise,  moderate,  temperate  in  his  aims  and  in  his 
methods  of  legislation.  I  was  with  him  often  in  the  discus- 
sions before  our  legislative  committees  here  when  the  conten- 


356  Honored  by  Albany. 

tion  was  between  the  mischievous  and  selfish  fanaticism  of 
men  who,  in  their  own  interests,  were  appealing  for  more 
privileges  and  more  liberty  for  their  traffic  in  drink  than  any 
other  interest  ever  dreamed  of  asking  for,  and  on  the  other 
band,  the  impracticable  one-idea-ed-ness  of  men  who  were  un- 
willing to  allow  any  restrictive  legislation  at  all,  on  the 
ground  that  it  recognized  as  possible  the  toleration  by  the 
State  of  the  manufacture  and  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
And  he  was  always  clear  and  strong  in  his  position,  dis- 
criminating in  his  arguments,  never  a  doctrinaire,  not  wedded 
to  any  special  form  of  dealing  with  the  question,  but  urging 
with  all  his  earnestness  and  eloquence  the  enactment  of  just 
and  wise  restrictions,  which  distinguished  between  use  and 
abuse,  and  recognized  that  the  restraint  of  evil  and  the  pro- 
tection of  rights  must  be  the  characteristic  features  of  just 
laws.  Many  a  biting  blow  he  struck  for  temperance  in  the 
highest  and  best  sense  of  the  word.  And  the  State  owes  to-day 
largely  to  his  influence  much  of  what  is  best  of  our  existing 
legislation. 

I  greatly  wish  that  a  lecture  of  Father  Walworth's,  printed 
here  twenty-two  years  ago,  could  be  reprinted.  The  average 
temperance  tract  is  either  dull  and  dreary  with  platitudes  or 
lurid  and  repulsive  with  a  horrible  realism,  but  this  lecture 
is  brimming  over  with  power,  directness,  humor,  originality, 
tenderness  and  conviction.  It  is  called  "  The  History  of  John 
Toby's  Conversion,  with  his  Views  on  Temperance,  the  Liquor 
Trade  and  the  Excise  Law.'*  The  main  facts  of  it  the  writer 
says  are  true  and  happened  within  his  own  knowledge.  And 
I  am  told  that  Mrs.  Averill,  whose  clever  kindliness  reformed 
John  Toby,  is  a  sketch  of  Father  Walworth's  mother,  and  that 
she  really  advised  and  did  with  her  womanly  ingeniousness 
the  one  thing  that  reclaimed  the  drunkard.  John  Tobv  and 
Katy,  his  wife,  are  not  unusual  figures  in  this  pitiful  drama, 
but  the  Hon.  Michael  Magreedy,  the  grocer,  and  Mr.  O'Gam- 
mon,  the  Assemblyman  (the  names  themselves  having  in  them 
the  flavor  of  Dickens'  suggestive  inventiveness),  are  characters 
whose  delineation  combines  originality  of  creation  with  pic- 
tures drawn  to  the  life.  *   *   * 


Lif e  S k  et< !  1 1  es  of  Father  Walwobth.     357 

I  Lively  and  witty  quotations  were  here  given  from  the 
"  John  Toby  "  Temperance  Lecture  as  printed  by  the  Albany 
News  Company,  1S7S.     See,  p.  268,  Chapter  Xll  of  this  book.] 

It  was  the  most  fitting  and  natural  thing  that  Father  Wal- 
worth should  have  been  selected  to  represent  the  Roman 
church  as  the  preacher  at  St.  Mary's  on  the  Hi-Centennial 
Sunday  in  Albany  in  1880.  And  the  sermon,  both  in  its  care- 
fulness of  historical  research  and  its  breadth  of  sympathy, 
abundantly  justified  the  selection.  Painting  the  picture  of  a 
historical  scene  forty  years  before  the  city  of  Albany  was 
chartered  he  points  the  moral  and  adorns  the  tale  with  words 
that  breathe  the  spirit  of  our  Divine  Master  and  are  full  of 
instruction  and  inspiration  for  Christian  people  the  world 
over.  *  *  * 

[Quotations  from  the  Bi-Centennial  sermon  given  in  Chapter 
XIII,  of  this  book,  are  also  here  omitted.] 

Father  Walworth  received,  in  1887,  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 
from  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York.  The  rareness 
of  these  degrees  gives  them  a  value  which  the  Regents  intend 
and  which  he  greatly  appreciated.  The  year  before  that  he 
had  delivered  a  most  thoughtful  and  really  brilliant  address 
before  the  great  gathering  of  educators  in  the  university 
convocation,  very  radical  in  some  of  its  statements,  very  lib- 
eral in  his  estimate  of  the  importance  of  our  common  school 
system  and  with  a  very  earnest  plea  for  the  recognition  of 
the  need  of  the  moral  and  religious  training  of  children.  *  *  * 

[See,  in  Chapter  II,  of  this  book,  some  of  the  quotations  here 
omitted.  They  were  from  the  Address,  "  School  Education," 
which  in  1887  was  published  entire  in  pamphlet  form  by  the 
Regents.] 

His  summing  up  of  the  principal  objects  of  a  true  education 
is  sound  and  wise.     These  are  Father  Walworth's  words: 

"Allow  me  here,  at  the  very  outset,  to  say  that,  in  my 
humble  opinion,  the  principal  object  of  a  good  education  is 
not  to  teach  children  things;  what  they  need  chiefly  to  learn 
is  how  to  think,  and  what  to  think.  Dogs  know  things,  but 
they  cannot  think.  When  the  education  of  men  is  in  question, 
the  wisest  is  not  the  one  who  knows  the  most  things. 

"  Wisdom  consists  in  the  knowledge  of  truth,  especially  the 
most  valuable  truth  and  in  mastering  that  truth  well.     Chil- 


358  Honored  by  Albany. 

dren  are  not  parrots,  and  they  should  not  be  educated  like 
parrots.  They  dwell  in  the  dawn  of  manhood.  Their  minds 
were  created  for  truth;  and  let  us  give  it  to  them,  not  as  we 
pack  pork  into  a  barrel,  but  as  the  sun,  when  it  rises,  floods 
the  air  with  light  and  heat.  All  nature  takes  these  bless- 
ings, and  appropriates  them  to  unnumbered  uses.  Children 
should  be  educated  to  the  knowledge  of  truth  in  such  way 
that  they  can  master  it,  own  it,  absorb  it,  assimilate  it  and 
make  it  a  part  of  themselves;  so  that  when  they  have  occa- 
sion to  reproduce  it,  it  may  not  be  returned  like  dry  goods 
out  from  a  box,  but  in  the  form  of  true  reflective  thought 
radiating  from  their  own  central  soids. 

"  Now,  it  is  in  full  accordance  with  what  has  just  been  said 
to  add,  that  schools  must  not  be  expected  to  teach  all  that  it  is 
good  to  know.  It  is  enough  that  they  furnish  those  element- 
ary courses  of  study  on  which  all  valuable  learning  rests  as  a 
foundation.  In  after  life,  when  school  days  are  over,  and  the 
special  vocation  of  life  is  settled,  it  is  easy  to  build  upon 
this  foundation  any  special  science  or  art  or  accomplishment, 
without  danger  of  wasting  time  or  labor." 

At  the  end  of  the  address,  Father  Walworth  rises  to  the 
eloquence  of  his  real  earnestness.  I  am  not  willing  to  admit 
that  the  exclusion  of  religious  teaching  "  yields  up  the  schools 
to  an  atmosphere  of  atheism,"  nevertheless,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  admire  the  outspoken  courage  and  the  temperate  policy 
of  his  closing  words. 

"  If  circumstances  are  such  that,  when  religion  is  taught  in 
the  schools,  any  part  of  that  teaching  must  necessarily  be 
such  that  we  are  to  be  excluded  from  the  benefit  of  those 
schools,  I  regret  it.  We  form  a  part  of  the  country,  and  we 
love  it.  We  have  already  shed  some  warm,  red  blood  for  it, 
and  we  are  ready  to  do  so  again.  But  if  it  should  become 
necessary  for  us  to  choose  between  these  two  alternatives, 
namely,  either  to  be  taxed  for  an  education  which  yields  us 
no  benefit,  or  to  yield  up  the  schools  to  an  atmosphere  of 
atheism,  why,  then,  tax  us,  and  shut  us  out,  but  save  society 
from  atheism.  Any  religion  is  better  than  no  religion  at  all. 
A  world  in  which  God  and  duty  to  God  are  recognized,  albeit, 
misunderstood,  is  better  than  a  world  without  a  God. 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth.     359 

"I  do  not  ask  that  everything  which  is  true  in  religion 
shall  be  taught  in  all  the  schools  of  the  State.  I  make  no 
demand  at  all  for  the  systematic  teaching  of  it.  Under  the 
actual  circumstances,  I  only  ask  that  God,  duty  to  God,  and 
the  Christian  revelation,  shall  be  publicly,  formally  and  daily 
recognized.  A  certain  atmosphere  of  reverence  and  piety  al- 
ways hovers  about  a  Christian  school,  shines  in  the  teacher's 
eyes,  and  breathes  in  the  text-books.  Beyond  this,  a  true 
charity  and  wise  liberality  will  enable  teachers  to  avoid 
giving  offense.  There  is  a  wonderful  magnetism  in  true 
charity.  That  prudence  which  comes  from  above  finds  many 
a  smooth  road,  without  sacrifice  of  principle." 

Father  Walworth's  life  was  many-sided.     It  would  be  unjust 
and   unfair  to  speak  of  him  either  only  in  the   highest  and 
holiest  part,  which  was  the  inspiration  of  it  all,  namely,  his 
life  as  a  priest,  or  in  its  most  conspicuous  phase,  as  a  public- 
spirited  citizen.     He  was  a  man  of  marked  personality  and 
most   attractive   character.     He  had  given  himself   the  culti- 
vation of  travel   by  a  voyage  round  the  world;    his  literary 
taste  was  refined  and  rich;   he  had  the  great  love  for  study 
which   made  books   the  companions  of  his   solitude.     Horace, 
his  favorite  Latin  author,  gave  to  his  very  tongue's  end  the 
sharp    and   keen    sayings    which    enlivened    and    enriched    his 
conversation;   and  he  was,  as  I  wish  more  men  were,  a  con- 
stant reader  and  a  devoted  lover  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.     Good 
tests  and  touchstones  both  these  are,  it  seems  to  me,  of  a  true 
love    of   literature,    and    both    ministering,    Sir    Walter    Scott 
especially,  to  enrichment  of  the  mind.     He  was  much  given, 
especially  in  his  later  life,  to  the  silence  and  seclusion  of  his 
study.     He  lived  by  rule,  in  the  most  regular  and  methodical 
way.     So  far  as  I  know,  his  fellow  citizens  saw  all  too  little 
of  his  social  side;  but  see  him  as  one  would,  and  where  one 
could,  he  has  left  behind  him,  not  only  in  my  mind,  but  in 
the   memorabilia  of   Albany,   the   picture  of  a  man,   the   four 
squares  of  whose  completed  character  I  should  set  down  as 
these ;  Courage  as  a  man,  courtesy  as  a  gentleman,  consistency 
as  a  Christian,  and  constancy  as  a  priest. 

It  is  not  enough,  my  friends,  that  we  should  honor  his  char- 
acter ;  it  is  not  enough  that  we  should  keep  fresh  his  name 
as  one  of  those  not  born  to  die;   it  is  not  enough  to  thank 


360  Honored  by  Albany. 

God  for  what  lie  did  for  the  highest  and  best  interests  of  the 
city  and  the  State;  a  cenotaph  is  an  empty  tomb,  and  a  com- 
memoration that  forgets  to  preserve  by  perpetuating  it  the 
influence  of  a  life  is  an  empty  honor.  If  we  would  render 
Clarence  Walworth  the  due  meed  of  reverent  recognition,  it 
must  be  done  by  the  imitation  of  his  private  virtues,  the 
emulation  of  his  public  spirit,  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
principles  for  which  he  spent  his  life  as  a  citizen. 

After    the    selection    from    "  Lohengrin,"    Mr.    Wheeler    B. 
Melius  spoke. 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  MELIUS. 

Personal  Recollections  of  the  Deceased  Clergyman. 

Mr.  Melius  spoke  as  follows: 

It  was  with  some  little  hesitation  that  I  consented  to  speak 
on  this  occasion,  as  I  knew  that  in  paying  my  simple  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  him  who  was  my  friend,  it  would  be  neces- 
sary for  me  to  make  frequent  references  to  myself,  and,  there- 
fore, I  beg  your  indulgence  and  patience.  But  I  felt  that  I 
could  not  allow  this  opportunity  to  pass  without  an  attempt, 
at  least,  to  show  the  reverence  and  affection  in  which  I  held 
Clarence  A.  Walworth. 

My  acquaintance  with  Father  Walworth  began  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  during  that  time  our  relations 
were  governed  by  the  closest  and  warmest  friendship;  and  I 
had  many  opportunities  of  studying  the  greatness  of  his  char- 
acter and  valuing  his  profound  knowledge  of  men  and  things. 
He  was  a  linguist  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and  I  know 
of  no  one  now  to  whom  I  can  go  for  the  derivation  of  the 
Froquois  language.  The  people  of  Albany  grieve  that  death 
has  stilled  the  poetic  fancy  from  which  sprang  the  beautiful 
rhymes  and  poems,  so  well  framed  and  formed,  containing  so 
much  of  the  character  and  nature  of  the  Indian,  with  which, 
under  the  nom  de  plume  of  John  A.  Bird,  Father  Walworth 
delighted  his  readers. 

Little  things  sometimes  tell  volumes  of  hidden  character, 
and  in  this  connection  let  me  briefly  tell  you  the  following 
true    story    of    Father    Walworth:      It    is    a    well-known   fact 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth.     361 

that  the  post-office  is  regarded  by  our  people  as  the  great 
bureau  of  information  of  a  city.  After  leaving  the  city,  people 
often  wish  for  information,  and  they  usually  apply  to  the 
postmaster.  If  the  information  sought  for  relates  to  matters 
of  recent  date,  the  letter  carrier  usually  can  give  it;  but  the 
case  of  which  I  speak  went  back  farther  than  the  memory  of 
the  letter  carrier  could  reach.  A  letter  was  received  by  our 
postmaster  which  read  as  follows: 

"  To  the  Postmaster  of  Albany,  N.  Y. : 

"Dear  Sir. —  When  I  was  quite  a  little  child,  my  father 
and  mother,  and  two  little  brothers,  left  your  city  to  go  south- 
west. I  was  very  small,  the  youngest,  and  hardly  knew  what 
the  purpose  was  of  our  journey.  Later  on  in  life  I  learned 
that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  bettering  our  condition.  We 
arrived  at  St.  Louis  late  in  the  evening  and,  being  poor  and 
quite  a  large  family  to  care  for,  my  father  selected  a  cheap 
hotel,  which  was  very  large  and  of  a  frame  structure,  on  the 
south  of  a  public  square.  At  midnight  a  fire  broke  out  in  the 
lower  portion  of  the  building.  My  father  and  mother  and 
little  brothers,  with  all  our  belongings,  perished.  I  was  left 
in  the  room,  my  father  telling  me  that  he  would  return  for 
me.  I  was  rescued  from  the  upper  story  by  the  firemen.  I 
was  taken  across  the  square  into  one  of  the  houses  of  the 
neighbors.  The  next  day  all  inquiry  failed  to  find  who  my 
parents  were.  All  I  could  remember  was  that  we  had  lived 
in  your  city  on  Lady  Clay  hill.  People  made  frequent  inquiry 
of  me  as  to  the  name  of  my  father  and  mother.  I  could  only 
say  they  had  no  names,  only  mamma  and  papa,  and  my 
brothers,  Eddie  and  Tommie.  I  never  could  think  of  their  sur- 
names. Fortunately  for  me,  I  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  very 
considerate  man  and  his  wife.  They  having  no  children,  I 
soon  became  attached  to  them  and  they  to  me.  I  grew  to 
womanhood.  My  foster  father  was  a  physician,  and  I  soon 
learned  to  love  them.  Having  been  nicely  educated  I  met  with 
and  married  my  foster  father's  nephew,  who  was  also  a 
physician.  When  the  war  broke  out  my  husband  entered  the 
Confederate  army  and  was  killed.  My  foster  father  and 
mother  having  no  children,  I  was  adopted  by  them.  They  both 
died.     I  inherited  their  estate.     My  husband  left  an  abundant 


362  Honored  by  Albany. 

estate  also,  which  I  inherited.  With  an  abundance  of  this 
world's  goods,  and  being  left  alone,  having  only  acquaintances, 
none  by  blood,  I  do  so  anxiously  want  to  know  of  whom  I  am. 
I  want  to  know  my  people.  I  cannot  tell  you  their  names. 
I  can  only  say  they  lived  on  Lady  Clay  hill." 

The  letter  certainly  called  for  an  answer.     The  postmaster, 
clerks  and  letter  carriers  could  give  no  information.     It  was 
sent  to  me,  and  I  at  once  took  it  to  Father  Walworth.     I  knew 
the  pathos  of  the  letter  would  deeply  move  his  great,  loving 
heart,  and  enlist  a  sympathy  which  would  not  tire  nor  abate 
until  the  desired  information  was  obtained.     So,  with  nothing 
to  guide  us  but  the  meager  facts  contained  in  the  letter,  we 
began  the  search.     We  first  obtained  the  date  of  the  fire  at 
St.  Louis,  and  after  days  of  diligent  work,  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining  information    concerning   the    family    through    a    Mrs. 
Todd,  a  lady  80  odd  years  of  age,  whose  mind  was  clear  and 
whose  memory    (like  that  of  most  aged  people)    was  of  the 
past   rather    than    of    the    present.     Upon    Father    Walworth 
reading  the   letter  to   her,   she   said :    "  Yes,  I   remember  the 
whole  family.     I  remember  their  moving  away  and  promising 
to  write  to  me,  for  I  knew  these  children  and  was  quite  fond 
of  them,  and  now  this  tells  the  story  of  the  reason  why  I  did 
not  hear  from  them."     In  a  few  days  we  had  procured  the 
register  of  baptism  of  each  child,  the  name  of  the  father  and 
mother,   and   the  godfather   and  godmother  of  these   children. 
We  found  an  aunt  and  a  niece.    The  niece  was  in  the  employ 
of  one  of  the  Pearl  street  stores,  and  the  aunt  was  living  on 
Sheridan   avenue.      This   was   a  happy   day   for   Father   Wal- 
worth, who   evinced   the   keenest   delight   in  his   success.     He 
conducted  the  correspondence   and   soon  had  the   satisfaction 
of  witnessing  the  reunion  of  the  family  in  this  city.     This  is 
one  of  the  little   things  that  tell  of  character;    the  acts  ex- 
terior tell  of  the  man  interior. 

His  Work  on  Bi-Centenary. 

At  the  time  of  the  Bi-centennial,  as  one  of  the  committee  on 
tablets,  Father  Walworth  was  consulted,  for  he  was  a  very 
active  factor  in  bringing  about  the  success  of  the  Bi-Centen- 
nial.  It  was  resolved  by  this  committee  that  notable  places 
should  be  marked  with  tablets.     All  of  the  churches  of  aged 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth.     303 

origin  were  included  in  the  list  of  places  so  to  be  marked. 
When  we  came  to  prepare  the  tahlet  for  St.  Mary's  Church, 
I  tried  very  hard  to  induce  Father  Walworth  to  prepare  the 
inscription  to  be  placed  upon  it.  This  he  refused  to  do,  but 
he  gave  us  the  necessary  data  and  matter,  and  finally  we 
wrote  this:  "Site  of  old  St.  Mary's  Church,  built  A.  D.  1797; 
the  first  Catholic  parish  in  Albany  and  second  in  the  State. 
The  entrance  directly  under  this  tablet;  a  second  building  on 
this  same  spot,  facing  on  Chapel  street,  was  the  original 
Cathedral  of  this  diocese."  When  we  were  ready  to  place 
this  tablet  upon  the  church,  Father  Walworth  passed  around 
to  Pine  street.  He  carried  a  stick  in  his  hand  and,  with  this 
he  touched  the  wall  of  the  church  and  said:  "Right  under 
this  spot  was  the  entrance  to  the  old  church;  that,  it  seems 
to  me,  is  the  fitting  place  for  the  tablet.  Here  the  people 
entered  in  and  departed  from  the  church  for  many,  many 
years."  And  upon  that  very  spot  which  he  indicated,  the 
tablet  is  now  fastened. 

A  few  days  before  the  beginning  of  the  celebration  of  the 
Bi-Centennial,  a  gentleman  of  this  city  met  me  on  the  street 
and  said:  "You  know,  I  have  a  large  quarry  of  pure  Barre 
granite,  and  I  would  like  to  give  to  the  city  of  Albany  a  block 
of  granite,  the  weight  of  which  is,  say  thirty  tons,  send  it  to 
this  city,  deliver  it  at  the  foot  of  State  street,  and  from  there 
you  could  deliver  it  to  any  place  that  you  may  determine 
upon."  It  was  then  too  late  to  accept  this  offer  as  there  was 
not  time,  even  had  the  granite  been  at  the  foot  of  State  street, 
to  bring  it  to  the  place  which  we  had  thought  of,  namely, 
the  Academy  park,  and,  therefore,  we  concluded  not  to  accept 
it.  It  was  a  matter  of  regret  to  all  of  us  that  we  had  to 
come  to  this  conclusion.  When  Father  Walworth  heard  of 
this  he  very  much  regretted  the  decision.  He  said:  "What 
an  excellent  thing  it  would  be  if  we  could  get  this  block 
of  thirty  tons  of  granite  and  place  it  in  the  Boys'  Academy 
park.  We  could  put  on  one  side  a  tablet  of  bronze,  and  say: 
'  This  to  commemorate  Kilian  Van  Rensselaer,  the  first  patroon 
of  the  manor ;  '  on  the  other  side,  '  This  to  commemorate 
Philip  Schuyler,  the  first  Mayor;  '  then  on  one  end  we  could 
place  a  tablet  with  the  inscription,  '  This  to  commemorate 
Johannes  Megapolensis,  the  first  Dutch  minister;  an  educated 


364  Honored  by  Albany. 

man  and  a  Christian  gentleman.'  It  would  be  the  grandest 
of  all  gifts.  It  would  commemorate  the  Bi-Centennial ;  it 
would  be  recognizing  the  early  settlers  of  this  city  —  a  matter 
which  has  been  very  much  neglected."  Then  I  reminded  him 
that  he  had  left  one  end  without  a  tablet  and  inscription,  and 
he  said:  "Well,  let  that  go  to  a  later  day;  sone  one  will 
merit  that  end."' 

He  also  remarked  what  an  educator  it  would  be.  Here  the 
child  would  roll  his  hoop,  or  cast  the  ball  in  play,  and  he 
would  run  over  to  get  it  —  perhaps  it  would  be  stopped  by 
this  granite  block  —  and  he  would  look  down,  and  read  these 
statements.  He  would  think  of  them.  He  would  return  to 
his  own  home  and  tell  of  them.  He  would  ask  his  father 
about  Megapolensis.  Perchance  his  father  would  refer  him  to 
a  teacher  at  either  of  the  schools  which  now  face  the  park 
where  that  monument  would  be.  "  Then,"  Father  Walworth 
said,  "  don't  you  remember  the  story  of  Father  Jogues,  whose 
life  was  saved  by  Polenses?  —  To-day  his  name  is  almost 
dropped  from  the  speech  of  the  people.  Why  should  we  not 
make  his  name  a  living  light  to  the  children  that  are  now 
growing  up  in  this  district." 

I  think  of  how,  as  he  stood  there,  his  long  arms  reached 
out  —  how  they  seemed  to  draw  you  toward  him  —  the  high, 
and  the  low,  the  rich,  the  poor,  the  humble,  the  exalted;  I 
think  of  his  great  life,  with  its  high  aspirations  and  noble 
deeds,  and  of  his  devoted  services  as  a  citizen ;  and  it  is  my 
living  hope,  that  such  a  monument  as  Father  Walworth  spoke 
of  should  be  erected,  and  that  on  the  space  which  he  left  un- 
filled should  be  inscribed  the  words:  "This  to  commemorate 
Reverend  Clarence  A.  Walworth." 

The  citizens'  committee  has  deemed  it  proper  to  leave  this 
matter  with  the  citizens.  Shall  this  granite  block  be  placed 
in  Academy  park?  Shall  these  tablets  be  placed  upon  it, 
bearing  these  inscriptions?  It  is  my  earnest  wish  and  hope 
that,  in  the  near  future,  the  city  of  Albany  will  so  com- 
memorate the  lives  of  four  of  its  greatest  citizens :  that  the 
name,  Clarence  A.  Walworth,  in  its  bronze  and  granite  setting, 
may  be  always  before  the  eyes  of  coming  generations :  that 
it  may  lead  them  to  study  his  noble  life  and  example  and 
to  receive  the  inspiration  of  his  high  and  true  ideals! 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth.     30", 

Father  Elliott,  who  was  the  last  speaker,  made  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  audience. 

FATHER  ELL  I  OTIS  TRIBUTE. 
Brief  Summary  of  Dr.  Walworth's  Life  —  His  Finer  Qualities. 
Very  Rev.  Walter  Elliott,  C.  S.  P.,  spoke  in  part  as  follows:* 

Clarence  A.  Walworth  was  born  at  Plattsburg.  N.  Y., 
May  30,  1820,  being  fourth  child  and  eldest  son  of  Reuben  H. 
Walworth,  the  last  chancellor  of  this  State.  He  made  his 
earlier  studies  at  the  Albany  Academy,  afterward  entering 
Union  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1838.  He  was 
inclined  to  a  religious  career  from  the  beginning,  but  at  the 
wish  of  his  father  he  studied  law  and  even  began  to  practice. 
Soon  he  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  New  York  city.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  1845.  Soon  after  this  he  applied  for  ad- 
mission to  the  Redemptorist  order  of  missionaries,  and  by 
them  was  sent  to  their  novitiate  in  Belgium,  being  accom- 
panied by  Isaac  T.  Hecker,  who  had  joined  the  Catholic  Church 
about  a  year  before  him. 

Having  finished  his  spiritual  and  scholastic  preparation. 
Clarence  Walworth  was  ordained  a  priest  and  spent  a  couple 
of  years  in  laborious  mission  work  in  England.  He  came  back 
to  America  in  1851,  again  in  company  with  Father  Hecker. 
From  that  time  till  1865,  Father  Walworth,  as  Redemptorist 
and  as  Paulist,  was  constantly  engaged  in  giving  missions  to 
Catholics,  the  excessive  labors  of  such  a  life  having  much  to 
do,  as  he  was  convinced,  with  undermining  his  constitution. 
His  continued  ill-health  led  to  his  leaving  the  Paulist  com- 
munity. Returning  to  his  native  diocese,  he  was  first  given 
charge  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Troy,  and  in  1866.  he  became 
pastor  of  St.  Mary's  in  this  city.  After  a  career  of  remarkable 
usefulness  both  to  his  parishioners  and  to  his  fellow  citizens 
generally,  Father  Walworth  departed  to  his  eternal  reward 
September  19,  1900. 


*For  this  Address,  revised  and  enlarged,  see  Catholic  World  Magazine, 
June,  1901.  It  is  there  entitled:  "Father  Walworth,  a  Character 
Sketch.'"  See  also,  in  this  hook,  page  132,  a  quotation  from  Father 
Elliott's  Sketch,  in  which  Father  Walworth  is  depicted  as  a  remarkable 
preacher  to  the  hardened  sinner. 


366  Honored  by  Albany. 

This  is  a  brief  summary  of  the  life  of  a  man  distinguished 
for  natural  gifts  of  a  high  order  united  to  priestly  holiness 
of  the  most  edifying  kind.  He  was  a  man  characterized 
especially  by  love  of  virtue  and  hatred  of  vice,  above  all  of 
that  vice  of  drunkenness  and  its  attendant  evil  of  saloon 
keeping,  associated  together  for  the  destruction  of  the  people. 

Father  Walworth,  although  he  spent  his  best  energies  fight- 
ing vice,  was  yet  naturally  of  a  gentle  disposition.  His 
manner  was  kindly,  his  conversation  was  toned  with  deference 
for  others.  He  was  a  positive  man,  but  not  self-opinionated, 
and  no  one  could  be  a  more  pleasant  companion  among  priests 
or  laymen.  His  friendships  were  warm,  and  those  of  early 
days  were  especially  tender,  enduring  to  the  end  of  his  life. 
He  had  a  sincere  admiration  for  the  solid  Dutch  character. 
Many  of  his  school  and  college  mates  were  of  that  stock, 
and  we  have  heard  his  econiums  on  their  earnest  natures, 
their  steady  resolution,  their  slow  but  constant  progress  in 
college  and  civil  life,  so  often  crowned  with  the  highest  prizes 
of  State  and  nation. 

Most  Touching  Evidence. 

Perhaps  the  most  touching  evidence  of  Father  Walworth's 
affectionateness  was  his  friendship  for  Edgar  P.  Wadhams, 
first  bishop  of  Ogdensburg.  This  noble  soul  was  Father  Wal- 
worth's fellow  pilgrim  on  the  hard  road  to  the  Catholic  faith. 
They  were  worthy  of  each  other,  and  they  loved  each  other 
as  did  David  and  Jonathan,  soul  knit  to  soul.  Walworth 
worshipped  the  upright,  truthful  nature  of  his  friend,  as 
strong  as  it  was  gentle,  more  flexible  than  his  own,  and 
equally  courageous;  and  Bishop  Wadhams  returned  his  affec- 
tion with  the  generosity  of  one  who,  knowing  men,  could 
value  their  rarer  and  sterner  virtues. 

The  people  of  Albany  well  know  how  sincere  a  character 
was  Father  Walworth's.  A  more  open  character  never  could 
be  found.  In  private  life,  it  was  a  deep  joy  to  meet  such  a 
man,  who  gave  you  a  clear  view  to  the  bottom  of  his  mind. 
In  public  conduct,  no  less  than  in  private,  he  ever  acted 
openly.  Though  he  was  continually  fighting  against  that 
class  of  evil-doers  whose  tactics  are  the  most  deceitful,  saloon- 


Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth.     367 

keepers  and  political  tricksters,  Father  Walworth  never  laid 
ambushes.  The  meanest  of  traitors  had  from  him  all  the 
rights  of  war;  he  was  as  honorable  in  his  methods  as  he  was 
unflinching  in  his  courage. 

This  true  nature  was  the  man  of  "  Yea,  yea,  and  Nay,  nay." 
Whatever  was  good  had  Walworth's  instant  "All  hail,"  and 
kept  his  final  allegiance.  What  was  bad  must  endure  his 
anathema.  If  his  loyalty  to  right  never  faltered,  his  war 
against  vice  never  knew  a  truce. 

Father  Walworth  was  no  extremist,  but  rather  he  was 
of  a  moderate  temper  of  mind.  Courage  he  had  to  dare  any 
foe  for  God  and  the  people,  and  yet  he  remained  a  man  of 
conservative  leaning,  consulting  the  due  forms  of  law,  wary 
of  the  methods,  avoiding  even  the  lingo  of  fanatics,  but 
always  so  candid  and  fearless  as  to  shame  timid  associates, 
while  winning  the  applause  of  honest  men  of  all  religions. 

Attached  to  this  hearty  square-dealing  with  friend  and  foe 
—  or  one  may  say  its  reward  —  was  Father  Walworth's 
spontaneous  good  humor.  The  Psalmist's  words  fitted  him : 
"  Thou  hast  loved  justice  and  hated  iniquity,  therefore  hath 
God,  thy  God,  anointed  thee  with  the  oil  of  gladness." 

The  people  of  Albany  have  often  heard  his  eloquent  words. 
But  they  will  bear  with  me  if  I  say  that  it  was  as  a  mission- 
ary that  his  endowments  as  a  persuader  of  men  were  best 
displayed.  I  have  heard  many  fine  preachers,  but  not  one 
who  was  his  equal  in  driving  the  fear  of  God  into  sinners' 
souls.  His  mission  sermons  broke  the  adamantine  crust  of 
sin  over  men's  souls  like  an  egg  shell.  He  had  the  best  voice 
for  public  speaking  I  ever  heard.  He  had  a  voice  that  could 
stop  an  army. 

He  was  like  Elias  of  old:  "Are  not  my  words  a  hammer 
which  breaketh  the  rock  in  pieces?  "  He  was  the  Lord's  ham- 
mer. Xor  was  this  the  mere  pulverization  of  the  culprit's 
self-assurance;  it  was,  besides,  the  melting  of  his  heart  into 
tender  longings  for  the  Divine  friendship.  After  his  awful 
arraignment  of  sinners,  his  confessional  was  by  no  means 
avoided,  by  penitents,  in  favor  of  his  fellow  missionaries.  The 
most  abandoned  wretches,  after  sitting  under  his  preaching 
pale  and  nerveless  with  terror,  would  often  enter  his  confes- 
sional by  preference;  they  had  felt  something  of  love  vibrating 
amid   the   imperious   tones   of  that   voice.      And   with   Father 


368  Hoxored  by  Albany. 

Walworth  they  ever  found  the  balm  of  hope  for  the  agonized 
pain  of  the  fear  of  Divine  wrath  which  he  had  been  the  means 
of  inflicting. 

The  Good  Lives  After  Him. 

But  he  was  best  known  for  the  good  he  did  in  Albany  as 
parish  priest  of  St.  Mary's.  This  developed  beautiful  traits 
in  his  character.  He  was  a  devoted  father  to  his  people.  He 
overflowed  with  the  tenderness  and  the  watchfulness  of  pas- 
toral love.  Some  of  my  hearers  were  present  at  his  funeral, 
and  heard  the  beautiful  sermon  of  his  friend.  Father  P.  H. 
McDermott.  High  as  were  those  eulogiums.  thev  were  all 
truly  deserved.  He  loved  all  his  people.  If  he  had  any 
preferences,  they  were  for  hard  sinners,  for  the  poor,  for  the 
sick,  and  for  the  little  ones  —  he  was  a  priest  always  full  of 
unfeigned  sympathy,  deeply  concerned  for  his  people's  eternal 
and  temporal  welfare. 

Without  neglecting  his  full  duty  to  his  parishioners,  Father 
Walworth  meantime  and  always  fought  the  saloon-keepers  of 
this  State  in  the  lobbies  and  before  the  committees  of  the 
Legislature.  In  this  work,  so  harassing  and  disappointing, 
yet  so  essential,  he  was  united  with  Bishop  Doane  and  other 
public-spirited  citizens.  And  you  all  know  how  persistently 
he  resisted  the  local  saloon  interest  and  other  disorderly  ele- 
ments in  this  city  itself.  To  such  a  line  of  conduct  some 
Catholics  objected.  Why  should  a  Catholic  priest,  they  asked, 
meddle  in  politics?  Because,  answered  Father  Walworth, 
the  enemies  of  Catholic  virtue,  the  worst  enemies  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  use  politics  for  the  corruption  and  ruin  of 
the  people. 

I  am  too  good  a  citizen,  he  would  say.  in  effect,  to  allow 
my  priesthood  to  obscure  my  sense  of  duty  as  a  citizen.  It 
would  be  a  pitiful  thing  if  a  parish  priest  should  be  hindered 
by  his  own  vocation  smiting  vice  intruded  into  the  very 
sanctity  of  the  laws,  a  monstrous  thing  that  religion  should 
be  prevented  from  aiding  civic  virtue,  banning  bribery  and 
corruption. 

God  rest  the  noble  soul  of  Clarence  Walworth!  As  man. 
citizen,  priest,  missionary,  he  was  faithful  and  true  to  God 
and  Church  and  fellow  citizens. 

Finis. 


AN    AFTERTHOUGHT. 


The  honorable  mention  of  Father  Walworth  at  Albany  in 
l!>01  has  filled  many  pages  of  this  book.  A  few  more  words 
will  bring  its  conclusion  up  to  date.  Six  months  after  he 
died  his  fellow-citizens  met  to  do  him  honor  and  listened  to 
the  words  of  Father  Elliott.  Six  years  after  that  memorable 
meeting  his  name  was  again  spoken  by  eloquent  lips  and,  as 
before,  by  a  Paulist  Father.  This  time  the  speaker  came  to 
Albany  not  from  the  national  capital  but  from  Chicago.  In 
the  "ides  of  March,"  1907,  Reverend  Father  Gillis,  C.  S.  P., 
>tood  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  and  man- 
fully answered  with  calm  reason  a  mixed  batcli  of  questions 
from  non-Catholics.     They  were  such  as  these: 

•  Why  don't  the  priests  join  with  the  ministers  in  the 
anti-saloon  crusade?  Why,  so  many  Catholics  in  the  saloon 
business?     Why  are  they  not  excommunicated?" 

In  answer  to  the  first  question,  he  said: 

*  That  is  their  own  business.  I  am  not  judge  of  the  priests 
of  Albany,  and  I  doubt  not  they  have  their  own  reasons  for 
what  they  do  or  don't  do.  But  one  thing  may  be  said.  The 
Catholic  theory  upon  the  right  of  a  man  to  run  a  saloon  is 
different  from  the  theory  ordinarily  held  by  ministers.  Some 
churches  teach  and  many  ministers  maintain  that  drinking 
and  saloon  keeping  as  well  as  smoking  and  card  playing  are 
always  and  essentially  sinful.  That  is  false.  There  is  a  dis- 
tinction between  sin  and  the  things  that  lead  to  sin.  *  *  * 
We  are  as  strong  as  anyone  against  sinful  saloon  keeping.*' 

Here  the  missioner  quoted  from  laws  of  conduct  for  Catho- 
lics as  laid  down  by  the  Baltimore  Council.  In  answering  the 
next  query  he  used  the  Albany  City  Directory  to  disprove  some 
exaggerated  statements  that  were  added  to  the  direct  ques- 
tion. Afterwards,  he  said:  "A  man  may  have  a  Catholic 
name  and  be  a  heathen."  Other  answers  of  his,  together  with 
these,  may  be  found  reported  in  the  Argus,  March   16,   1907. 


370      Life  Sketches  of  Father  Walworth. 

Enough  has  been  here  given  to  show  how  he  was  beset  by 
prejudiced  questioners  at  the  close  of  a  very  successful  mis- 
sion, which  he  had  preached  in  company  with  Reverend  Father 
Thomas  Burke,  C.  S.  P.  We  are  only  concerned  in  this  con- 
nection, with  the  facts  that  led  up  to  a  sudden  exclamation 
with  which  Father  Gillis  clinched  his  arguments  and  drove 
them  home  to  his  hearers.  Let  us  give  to  him  the  last  word. 
While  still  speaking  impromptu,  he  said: 

"  One  of  the  greatest  temperance  advocates  the  city  of 
Albany  ever  had  was,  I  have  been  told,  a  Catholic  priest, 
Father  Walworth!" 

E.  H.  W. 

91  Columbia   St.,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

August  15,  1907. 


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